Question

The cowbird is a nest parasite that lays its eggs in the nests of other species in the trees along the boundaries of forests and meadows. Nest parasitism (the number of nests with cowbird eggs) declines dramatically as you move deeper into the forest. Cowbirds would be considered a(n) _____ species.

Answer 1

Answer and Explanation:

Cowbirds would be considered an edge species, meaning that these animals need to live in an ecotone.

An ecotone is a transition area between two communities, or ecosystems. It is the zone of maximum interaction, and therefore with greater biological richness. The number of species is usually higher in adjacent areas, making it a meeting place for living organisms. The ecotone is usually associated with the "edge" term. The edge is the physical place where the two communities, or ecosystems meet.

The animals that live on the edge, are usually those that need two or more types of plant communities to live. In the case of the cowbird, they prefer to forage in open spaces such as grasslands, meadows, pastures and other places with short vegetation, where they can find food resources like seeds and invertebrates. They also need to lay their eggs in host nests that might be located in grasslands or forest edges over trees or shrubs where they might also roost.

The cowbirds are considered to be an edge species because they need two vegetable communities to live: open areas to feed in and forest edges to lay their eggs and roost.