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Weekly Puzzler #117: Foster Parents…but Not by Choice!

Last week’s puzzler was the song of an eastern towhee, an attractive bird common to the eastern United States. As I was learning about this bird I discovered that in some areas nearly half of its nests are parasitized by this week’s puzzler.

An eastern towhee's nest
An eastern towhee’s nest

Do you know who would lay their eggs in an eastern towhee’s nest? Not only does this mystery bird skip nest building in favor of laying its eggs in OTHER bird’s nests! it also will remove one of the mother towhee’s eggs, making it even harder for this poor, unsuspecting mother to notice anything amiss.

Do you know what bird I am talking about? This bird doesn’t make its own nest! Instead, it dedicates its energy to laying eggs–sometimes more than 3 dozen during a summer! It lays its eggs in the nests of other birds, including the eastern towhee and 220 other species!, and then leaves them there for the other mothers to feed and raise! Unfortunately the original mom doesn’t really get a choice in the matter and often raises the “odd egg” at the expense of her own babies.

If you want to guess, use the comment box below. All correct guesses will be entered in the next drawing (First day of Fall). Good luck!

And have a wonderful weekend! I hope to see you again soon.

13 thoughts on “Weekly Puzzler #117: Foster Parents…but Not by Choice!

  1. Michael Mammoser says:

    The Brown-headed Cowbird is a common brood parasite across the United States, and the most likely candidate for this quiz.

  2. Colleen Gilgenbach says:

    The Cowbird. We have a painting of a nest in the gallery with an odd egg in it and someone told me it was a cowbird egg and that they leave their eggs in other birds nests.

    1. Sharon Mammoser says:

      Colleen, Good job! I thought this puzzler might be a hard one for some subscribers, but everyone is proving me wrong.

    1. Sharon Mammoser says:

      Nanci, You are right! The cowbird has a fascinating lifecycle, which I will talk about more on Saturday when I publish the answer. Nice to hear from you again!

    1. Sharon Mammoser says:

      I doubt I could ever stump you when the puzzler is about birds! Thanks, as always, for reading and for taking the time to answer.

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