Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2002 10:02:26 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Walter Ellison Subject: Re: Atlas "adoption" question, etc. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi All, Stan Arnold asked: First, an atlas question. I know that if a host bird is seen feeding a > young cowbird, then both the host and cowbird are confirmed. What if a > Yellow Warbler is seen feeding a noisy young starling? Does that also > confirm both species? I would say yes. The warbler would not behave this way unless it had young of its own or had gone through a failed nesting attempt. In my experience juvenile starlings are usually a bit less speckled than juv cowbirds. I would describe both of them as mottled with diffuse light brown spots and streaks. I would have expected cowbird too, the Yellow Warbler is a favorite cowbird host in spite of its tendency to bury cowbird eggs. Good Atlasing, Walter Ellison MD/DC Atlas Coordinator - MOS 23460 Clarissa Rd Chestertown, MD 21620-3645 410-778-9568 rossgull@crosslink.net "A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast." - E. B. White ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================