Painted Bunting nests are parasitized by both Brown-headed and (much more commonly) Bronzed cowbirds. The breeding range of the western population of Painted Bunting overlaps, in part, the historic range of Brown-headed Cowbird. Rates of nest parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds in the western population increased, at statistically significant levels, between the 1870s and 1980s. There are few reports of nest parasitism on the eastern population, which was allopatric to cowbirds until recently. Painted Buntings, at least in the western population, usually abandon the nest if it is parasitized early in egg-laying, but will accept cowbird eggs if the nest already contains more than three bunting eggs.
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