Photos were made by Foek Chin Joe near Republiek in Suriname
Giant Cowbird in Suriname
Photos were made by Foek Chin Joe near Republiek in Suriname
in December 2006. The male has a unusual posture with longer
feathers in his neck (just visible in the first picture) and nice
orange eyes, as can be seen in both the photos. The female looks
more normal with pale eyes. Giant cowbirds seem to like to eat
rice, but I never saw them in Nickerie. They are broodparasites
and are said to lay differently colored eggs, adapted to
different hosts, as was already noted by the Penard brothers
(famous Surinamese ornithologists) a hundred years ago. They lay
their eggs in the hanging nests of oropendolas and caciques.
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