nest

oil and mixed media on paper
28″ x 20″
ⒸCathy Haibach 2021

Brown-headed cowbirds are brood parasites. They lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, and those other birds raise the cowbird’s young – often at the expense of their own smaller chicks. Sometimes the hosts recognize the cowbird egg and remove it from their nest, to which cowbirds can respond with “mafia action” during which they destroy the host’s other eggs. In this painting, two yellow warblers are confused by the addition of a larger egg to their nest. A crude net is in place to catch any young that may fall. The female cowbird looks on from a distance and a male hovers in the background, while mafia action waits in the corner.

$650