We observed and video-taped actively nesting adult Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) repeatedly feeding abandoned conspecific juveniles in a nearby nest. We used molecular techniques to confirm these nestlings were unrelated to the adults that fed them. The most likely explanation for the observed behavior is that it was a mistake resulting from parental response to the begging vocalizations in the nearby nest.
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1 December 2009
Adoption by a Territorial Passerine
Russell A. Ligon,
Mark Liu,
Geoffrey E. Hill
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