Hi BirdGal, I saw the oddest thing the other day in my backyard – I witnessed a female cardinal feeding a baby bird that definitely WAS NOT a cardinal. Wassup with that?
Dear Confused, you saw exactly what you say you saw! My guess is that you observed a cardinal feeding a cowbird, convinced it was her baby. Cowbirds are parasitic brooders. Female cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests of other species. When the baby cowbird hatches, the host parents raise it as if it were their own. I have witnessed this phenomenon many times in my own backyard.
