Youth is not pretty

I'm not sure what this guy is going to grow up to be, maybe a brown headed cowbird?  But right now this young bird is not too pretty.

Little Mama

This little song sparrow was feeding her big cowbird baby.  Sadly, cowbirds are parasitic and lay their eggs in other birds' nests.  This large cowbird probably pushed the smaller sparrow babies out of the nest and left poor mama sparrow one large baby to feed.

Brown headed Cow bird

Brown headed Cowbirds are not a welcome sight.  They are parasitic birds who lay their eggs in other bird's nests.  Cowbird eggs hatch faster and give the cowbird a headstart on the other eggs. They will push the other eggs out of the nest and take food from the real babies.  Nature is not always sweet and cuddly.  (see here for more.)