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Articles

Vol. 11 No. 3 (1980)

PYGMY NUTHATCH FEEDS MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD NESTLINGS

Submitted
September 10, 2025
Published
July 1, 1980

Abstract

Instances of adults of one avian species unilaterally feeding the young of another species have been reported for a variety of passerines (Powell 1946, Logan 1951, Eddinger 1970, Moore 1973). This unusual behavior sometimes occurs following a recent nesting failure by the feeding adults (Lack 1946:87, Norris 1958, Skutch 1976:370), but there are also reported nest failures caused by errors in feeding (Williams 1942). Documentation of whether a nest failure precedes or follows a feeding error requires knowledge of the nesting histories of all birds involved in an interspecific feeding, and these histories are often unknown.

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