That's an interesting question! I guess the fish were orangey red, also.. I would think he would know it's not a cardinal nest, being wet and on the ground, but maybe he thought he was feeding his fledgling! On Sat, May 26, 2012 at 12:37 PM, Arthur Mudge < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > My experience with Cardinals and windows indicates vulnerability to > deception by reflected images. Might the "fish feeder" have thought it was > feeding a Cardinal? > > -----Original Message----- > From: Upper Valley Birders [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On > Behalf Of David L. Webb > Sent: Saturday, May 26, 2012 9:36 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: [UVB] chickadee feeding robins > > --- You wrote: > I have never heard of that happening before, where one species of bird > helps > another > species raise nestlings?! It seems like it would be a horribly maladaptive > > thing to do, wasting all that energy instead of either trying to re-nest or > just > relax for the rest of the summer to try again next year. It seems so odd > that > it tried to build a nest out in the open in the sun when I thought > Chickadees > were only cavity nesters, too. I wonder if there is something seriously > wrong > with the poor little bird's brain. > > Maybe it's not that unusual and I've just never heard of it before. (?) > Does > anyone > have any other examples of it happening that they know of? > --- end of quote --- > > I don't know how common such behavior is, but it does occur. I read > an article > some years ago (I believe in _Smithsonian_) that mentioned a cardinal that > had > lost its brood and was feeding carp in a pond! The fish came to the > surface, > opened their mouths wide, and the cardinal hovered over and dropped them > tidbits > of food. While I wasn't able to find the article online (it appeared years > ago, > before the internet), I did find this, which even has a video: > > <http://www.a-home-for-wild-birds.com/cardinal-and-goldfish.html>. > > Really amazing! > > Best wishes, > David Webb >