Who Sings Lullabies for Cowbirds? by Duncan Shaw-Rose

Cowbirds are birds belonging to the genus Molothrus in the family Icteridae. 

Your name betrays your nature

Your size betrays your nature

Your voice betrays your nature

Your coat betrays your nature

They are of New World origin, but some species not native to North America are invasive there,

Hear that whisper in the woods-

Do you think they know?

Do leaden eyes trace your flight

Everywhere you go?

and are obligate brood parasites,

You don’t wet your tongue with the eyes of your mother

You don’t hone your beak on the feet of your father

You don’t wash your wings with the blood of your brother

You don’t. You don’t.

laying their eggs in the nests of other species.

Who is to blame?

There must be a blame.

Who is to blame?

Who is to blame?

1) Wikipedia. “Cowbird.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Oct. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowbird.