Sunday when we went back over there, I wanted to see the eggs again, and this is what I found...
Any ideas?
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
What Kind Of Bird Laid These Eggs?
My mom has a running list of things she needs for Junior to do at her new house, so we spend a lot of time over there. This past Saturday, Junior was supposed to trim some hedges and trees for her. As she was pointed out what she wanted done, Junior spotted this nest in one of her trees, so naturally she said to leave it alone. Check out the beautiful blue eggs. My mom said they were robin's eggs.
Sunday when we went back over there, I wanted to see the eggs again, and this is what I found...
...two more eggs, and one of them is speckled. Weird, right? This is where I need some help. Why is there one speckled egg? Is it the same as the others, or did another bird lay an egg in this nest? We also caught a glimpse of the mommy bird, and it didn't look like a robin.
Any ideas?
Sunday when we went back over there, I wanted to see the eggs again, and this is what I found...
Any ideas?
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17 comments:
First the blue eggs are an American Robin's.
Now as to the other egg, there are two possibilities, the first is that one of the eggs is just a different color from the others. The second one is that another bird laid one of its eggs in the nest for the other birds to raise, this is a brood parasite, this behavior is associated the most with the Cuckoo bird family.
We thought the blue ones were Robin's eggs, but the bird we saw in the nest was not a Robin. Maybe that was the mom of the speckled egg? It will be interesting to see when they hatch what that other egg is.
If it is a brood parasite it will hatch before the others, so you should know within the next two weeks or more.
There are a few birds who do lay their eggs for other mammas to sit on.
Thank you for all the information. I'll make sure and get some pictures of the babies when they hatch.
It really seems like another bird laid an egg there. A typical ploy of some species. They get out of building a nest and hatching an egg. And the "foster parents" end up raising a different bird as one of their own, at a detriment to their own offspring.
I can't wait to see more photos once the eggs hatch!
I am learning so much from you guys, and it's really interesting. I am excited to see what happens!
Yep.. Robin eggs. think the speckled eggs a boy..LOL
Auntie E ~ :D
I have no idea but they are beautiful!
Aren't they, Stacey? I can not wait to see the babies once these eggs hatch.
Some other birds that lay blue eggs are: Bluebirds, Starlings & House Finches.
House Finches actually have speckled eggs mixed in too. Here is a link to a photo I found online of a House Finch nest. Looks similar to yours:
http://www.sialis.org/picture%200626hofi.htm
Oops: I just read after though that the speckled egg is a Cowbird egg. So I guess the speckled one is something different.
Sue ~ I checked out the link, and they do look similar. This speckled egg is white and red, not blue. I did read that it only takes about 2 weeks or so for eggs to hatch, so I guess we'll find out soon what these are. I can't wait! :)
This is very interesting. The blue eggs look just like the Robin eggs we had that hatched. I don't know about the other one.
This is really interesting! I'm in agreement that another bird must have laid an egg in the Robin's nest.
I have no answer for you but I can't wait to see what the result is.
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