That sounds very cute, but the robin parent wasn't wasting energy on the
Ovenbird chick since it was just tagging along, though I would really love
to have that picture on my wall! I hope it got some appropriately sized
food eventually.

Cowbirds aren't the same since the adoptive parents "think" it's their own
baby because it's in their own nest to begin with.

I guess in the case of the  Chickadee voluntarily feeding Robin chicks, or
of the Black Headed Cardinal feeding KOI,  the evolutionary advantages of
having such a high drive to care for nestlings must outweigh the
disadvantages of occasionally feeding someone else's offspring.  Maybe it's
not so different from humans wanting to raise and nurture pets, at least
the kind that have no purpose other than to be nurtured, like me with my 4
dogs!



On Sat, May 26, 2012 at 10:28 AM, Robert Z. Norman <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I had a related experience about 40 years ago. On our front lawn I saw a
> mother robin leading a brood of four or five baby robins showing them how
> to get worms from the ground. The baby robins were imitating, but along
> with the baby robins was a young ovenbird, appearing to be part of the
> brood, also digging for worms. I didn't see it actually eat a worm, but I
> watched them all for at least five minutes.
>
> Bob
>