Cowbirds Learn to Sing – Lyndsey Weiner

Cowbirds Learn to Sing


Brown-headed cowbirds
hatch in the nest of one of
two hundred species.

At dusk they line the
deck railing, my son calls it
a board meeting. They

cock their heads at our
bedtime routine or maybe
their reflections in

orange-lit windows.
At two years old they hear the
chatter call of their

biological
fathers. Imprinting on the
signal they begin

to learn their language.
My son’s father moved away
to the city but

I see him in my
boy’s countenance whenever
he’s sad or confused.


Lyndsey Weiner