A recent study by Florida Museum of Natural History avian ecologist Jeff Hoover provides experimental evidence that “mafia” behavior in brown-headed cowbirds enforces acceptance of nest parasitism in prothonotary warblers. The study was conducted in the Cache River watershed of southern Illinois. This photo of an adult female cowbird was taken at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa.

(Photo by Chris Young)
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Return to: UF study first to document evidence of ‘mafia’ behavior in cowbirds