For a different perspective, I recommend Dennis Paulson’s essay on the topic. <https://www.birdnote.org/explore/field-notes/2015/05/cowbird-story-revisited>
I can also recommend a few more scientific papers that say essentially the same thing. > On Apr 22, 2021, at 10:49 P.M., Laura Erickson <chickadee.erick...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > Brood parasitism is indeed found in cowbirds from South America, where the > genus *Molothrus* probably originated, and so although it follows that > brood parasitism almost certainly evolved in that genus in the first place > for reasons other than because they needed to follow a wandering mammal, > the Brown-headed Cowbird's well-documented dependence on nomadic bison > certainly made brood parasitism uniquely valuable for it, at least until we > decimated the bison while introducing cattle. > > It's virtually impossible to know the full story about any species--we're > always finding out more. Learning new information doesn't mean we throw out > a whole body of old but accurate observations--it means we work out how all > the pieces of information, including both DNA/evolutionary biology and > natural history fit together. Otherwise, we're just like the blindfolded > people each describing one part of the elephant, with nobody getting the > full picture. > > Best, Laura Erickson > Duluth Anthony Hertzel axhert...@gmail.com ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html During the pandemic, the MOU encourages you to stay safe, practice social distancing, and continue to bird responsibly.
