Father, as we spoke this morning, guide my heart, my thoughts, my entire life. May it be pleasing, first and foremost, in Your eyes. Use me to bring about Your Kingdom. Amen.
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When life was a little less hectic, I was very diligent about keeping an eye on my bird feeders. I would note species that visited, look up their calls, and find a picture of them to put on file. For quite a while, I even participated in an online bird research group.
I still feed birds and enjoy watching them (except Starlings!) A while back, I saw birds I had never seen before. I recognized them from pictures in my All the Birds of North America book (what can I say—it’s a hobby!). I had seen a male and female Brown-headed Cowbird!
Anyway…after some research, I discovered that they are a species native to North America and probably got their name from following bison herds on the Great Plains, feeding on insects flushed from the grass by the grazers. I also learned that they are our most common “brood parasite.” A female cowbird makes no nest of her own but instead lays her eggs in the nests of other bird species, who then raise the young cowbirds.
Some birds…can recognize cowbird eggs but are too small to get the eggs out of their nests. Instead, they build a new nest over the top of the old one and hope cowbirds don’t come back. Some larger species puncture or grab cowbird eggs and throw them out of the nest. But the majority of hosts don’t recognize cowbird eggs at all.
Cowbird eggs hatch faster than other species eggs, giving cowbird nestlings a head start in getting food from the parents. Young cowbirds also develop at a faster pace than their nest mates, and they sometimes toss out eggs and young nestlings or smother them in the bottom of the nest.
OK…so probably way more than you ever wanted to know about Brown-headed Cowbirds, but there’s a lesson here. As Christians, we must be diligent about others laying their eggs in our nests. Yesterday, I posted What’s On Your Mind? That stuff is one thing, but we also must be careful about swallowing hook, line, and sinker everything that other “believers” hold to be true.
Acts 17:11 speaks of the importance of verifying the “truth” we are given to make sure it really is true!
And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. NLT
Lord Jesus, help us not to allow just anyone to drop their eggs in our nests. May we, with prayer and a heartfelt desire to search Your Word, keep our nests clear of false teaching. Amen.
(Apr 17th, 2019, Wed, 9:47 pm)
Apr 22nd, 2024, Mon, 12:58 pm
Information gleaned from:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown-headed_Cowbird/overview#
https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/brown-headed-cowbird
