 |
| Seven chickadee eggs and two cowbird eggs |
 |
| Three bluebird eggs |
All
but three boxes contain completed nests this week. House sparrows continue to
attempt to nest in one box, and two other boxes have only small amounts of
nesting materials inside.
There
are six bluebird nests, one with three eggs and one with five. Incubation of
the eggs has begun, as both mother birds flew out when I “knocked” before
opening their boxes. Incubation lasts for about two weeks.
There
is one chickadee nest with seven chickadee eggs and two cowbird eggs. Cowbirds
lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. Both of these species’ eggs are
speckled, but cowbird eggs are significantly larger than chickadee eggs.
Unfortunately, I was unable to add a hole reducer to this box, which would have
prevented the larger cowbird female from entering to lay her eggs. The original
entrance hole had been enlarged just enough to make attaching the reducer
impossible. Cowbirds develop faster than chickadees and bluebirds, and will
likely hatch before their nestmates, putting the young chickadees at a
disadvantage.
Tree
swallows occupy one box, and have already laid three eggs. As I approached, a
tree swallow poked its head out of the hole to see what was going on, as they
often do.
 |
| Wary tree swallow |
