[dbussone]

Originally Posted by cattywampus

A: When the Cows move they disturb the bugs in the grass.
when the bugs move away from footstep, the birds can detect the bug movement,
SNACK time for the Bird.

B: I believe the Birds return to same pasture and actually compete for
the right to accompany the Cows which tend to move the most.

Once the pecking order is established, the bird stays with their selected Bovine.

I have observed, on the old ranch, Cows who would look down and MOO at their bird
and the bird will immediately jump on the Cows' back and select bugs on the Cow.

I have seen some birds acknowledge that their Cow was disturbed by
flies around the eyes. The bird would fly up in front of Cow and shoo the flies away.

Kind of a mutual-aid agreement between some of those critters.

Wow! Never learned that in grad school. Thank you. I love learning new things every day. ...seriously.