Bird Mothers


By way of audobon.org here is some interesting parenting styles of birds.

The osprey receives high awards for its care of hatchlings weeks after their arrival. Dad is the daily fish provider.

Terns prefer the beach to raise their brood. A little sand or pebbles is their nest. The eggs find shade from the mother’s shadow.  

When it comes to the prothonotary warbler the male chooses the site and the female is the architect in the designing and building the nest.

Sandpipers appear in the role reversal of parenting. Their temporary female mates desert the brood when the father takes over the incubating  and providing for the brood.

Mother cowbirds outsource their responsibilities and lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. The unwitting birds become surrogate mothers.

Barn swallows are the more the better philosophy in nest building, incubation and brooding. Older siblings are helpers as are virtual “aunts” and uncles” in feeding the baby chicks.

Nature offers us a look and educates us in the many ways and means of offering support, encouragement and nurturing possibilities.

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