Female cardinal stole Carolina wren egg from nest?
At least I think that's what she did. I have a hanging basket on the front porch. A couple weeks ago I noticed a Carolina wren had built a nest. Then about a week later a Cardinal started building in the same basket. The CW has been feeding her babies and the Cardinal is now incubating. Today I watched the Cardinal peer into the CW nest and come up with something that looked like a white egg. She then flew off, then returned a few minutes later.
Is that even possible? And if so, why?
Cardinal nest on left, Carolina wren on right...
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Comments (20)
16 years ago- 16 years ago
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A bounty of wildlife - and Cardinals in my KO!
Comments (10)Funny you should mention the Cardinal. I had never seen one before because we don't have them out here. We were vacationing in the South two weeks ago and saw one in Mobile, Alabama and another two days later in West Monroe, La. Everything was blooming everywhere we went and the Cardinal sightings were icing on the cake. Went to Chamblee's on the way to the airport for the flight home....See Morecarolina wrens checking BB box
Comments (6)WBNU is the abbreviation for the white breasted nuthatch, so I assume it'd be BHNU for brown-headed nuthatch. TUTIs are wonderful tenants and parents. Last year I had a pair in a bluebird box where the brood was almost wiped out by HOWR (house wrens). There were 6 eggs and the day before they would have hatched, I found all of the eggs on the ground below the nest box pecked to varying degrees. I put the least damaged egg back in and it hatched. I had a nest box camera and saw that the female nuthatch RARELY left the chick alone and stayed with it every night of its life. I don't know if that's normal or it was this female's reaction to having only one chick. In any case, they are a delight. Hope you have a nest of them someday. Bluebird blessings, Linda......See MoreEggs found outside of nest box?
Comments (7)The three eggs are still there, and mom and dad have been busy at work. They're eating up the dried mealworms, too. I haven't seen any house wrens, but I'm not great at picking them out, either. I just went to my Sibley book, and it says that they are at edges of woods and overgrown gardens, we really don't fit that bill. No woods, and not much of a garden. This neighborhood was corn fields until 2006 and they scraped off all of the good soil and left the clay. Two neighborhoods side by side, same outcome. Any trees here are under 7 years old. I've put in bushes in the last 2 years, all are still quite small. I do have a carolina wren that nests every year in the propane tank, about 15 feet from the bluebird feeder. I've left that nest alone, but found it on the ground after the propane guy came about a month ago. I don't know if the wren will rebuild or not, I hope so. That's a funny bird, when we sit on the back porch it'll jump around the porch just out of eyesight and peek over to look at us as it goes around. Like it thinks we don't see it!! Would a carolina wren disturb it? My daughter just started taking lessons at that horse farm, I was actually shocked when I heard and then saw those HOSP. They were only there that one time, but they were there. We are quite rural, and close to the bay with a lot of swamp around. I never feed birdseed beyond the winter time and it is always BOSS or safflower seeds, never millet and that filler crap that those HOSP seem to love. I really hope I never see one of those here!! I have a killdeer nesting somewhere way in the backyard, I haven't gotten too close, I got a warning last time I walked back there, and my purple martins are back, too :) Each of the plots in the neighborhood are an acre, and it is only about 40% built, the builders left after the market crashed. The empty plots are regularly mowed, lots of empty fields around here. Christy...See MoreFrom Carolina Wren To Eastern Phoebe
Comments (17)There are several little beaks bobbing and weaving in the nest. Mother and Father Phoebe are feeding them together. One of the parents--looked like Father Phoebe--served up a bug with its wings still on. Father Phoebe was working with the bug for some time. When he delivered it, the bug's body was facing towards Baby Phoebe. Baby Phoebe gulped it down with no complaints. Both parents stand together on the stamped concrete under the deck. They constantly scour the walls of the house for bugs. Now and then, they go up to the nest for a look-see. I haven't figured that out. Maybe looking for fecal sacs? Anyway, I can gawk all I want at this little family and they cannot see me....See More- 16 years ago
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What a way to start the day! As I passed the living room picture window this morning I heard chatter and caught a glimpse of movement. I walked closer and saw the Carolina wrens with their heads above the basket rim. I was pretty sure what was coming so I grabbed the camera.
Fledgling #1...
Ready to test those wings ... "Here we go!"...
#1 with a bit of a bumpy start ... "Where am I?"...
fledgling #2...
#2 flew to the lattice...
"Lady, enough with the pictures!"...
What amazed me was that the male cardinal was right there with the Carolina wren parents making sure the babies were safe. The fledglings flew around the azaleas for awhile, then into the courtyard and side yard until they eventually flew off.
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Stefan Schmidt