Brood-Parasitic Bird Shifts Its Habitat to Southern California

[Fam Times reporter Park Joo-hye] Ecologists are expressing concern as a brood-parasitic bird, originally found in the region between sub-Saharan Africa and South Africa, shifts its habitat to Southern California.

The pin-tailed whydah, distinguished by its elongated central tail feathers, lays its eggs in other birds’ nests. The term refers to a bird whose hatchlings grow by depending on other birds during their development.

After mating, pin-tailed whydahs lay their eggs in other birds’ nests and never return to their chicks.

Once the eggs hatch, pin-tailed whydah chicks begin competing for food with the nest owner’s chicks, causing the host bird increasing harm over time.

In its native range, the pin-tailed whydah is known to lay eggs in the nests of 20 other bird species.

Many of the birds selected as hosts by pin-tailed whydahs have learned how to identify chicks of another species. They have also learned to improve the survival rate of their own chicks by feeding chicks of other species less.

However, birds in other regions that have never encountered brood-parasitic pin-tailed whydahs could face a threat to the survival of their species.

The brown-headed cowbird is a bird native to the United States that parasitizes as many as 200 bird species by laying eggs in their nests. Some ecologists believe the brown-headed cowbird is responsible for the population decline of the rare, endangered Kirtland’s warbler, which inhabits the north-central United States.

However, scientists predict that even if the pin-tailed whydah’s range expands into the United States, it is unlikely to spread widely because the bird is not native to the country.

Like other parasitic organisms, the pin-tailed whydah needs a suitable climate and suitable hosts to parasitize other birds.

Reporter Park Joo-hye, fam1@pcss.co.kr