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cowbird egg in chipping sparrow nest

15 years ago

Discovered that a chipping sparrow in my yard is sitting on 4 of her own eggs and one cowbird egg! Last year when this happened, the mother abandoned the nest and her eggs when the cowbird hatched...then it died, too. What should I do?? Does anyone remove the cowbird egg...I hate to do that, but I will in order that the mother successfully raise her own brood!! PLEASE ADVISE.....

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Comments (10)

dzyg
15 years ago
Personally if I were you I would remove the cowbird egg, those other babies will surely die if that cowbird hatches.

Others might tell you different that you can't legally do that however what you do in your yard is your business and if you want to see the poor Chipping Sparrow around your yard running themselves ragged trying to feed that one cowbird, that is up to you. Good luck!!

Donna
julied
Original Author
15 years ago
Do you think it's worth waiting until the cowbird hatches (it's supposed to hatch about one day earlier than the others)then remove it and try to raise it myself? I could feed it mealworms, etc. I've had some success with this.
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As you can see the cowbird baby is as innocent and dependant as the other babies. It has no idea that it has caused harm. By this point it is to late to do anything. Please keep an eye out for these eggs. This baby takes up 1/2 of the nest, there were 5 eggs when I first looked. This means 2 eggs were tossed. This is just a sad thing,luckily all 4 of these babies fledged, most nests are not so lucky. I was able to monitor this nest and knew all the babies were getting fed. Please dont let these eggs hatch. Nobody wants to harm a baby bird, I sure couldn't but seeing how these babies grow you may decide it's not so bad to render the egg "non vialable", there will be plenty of cowbird eggs in nests you cant see, I have a Cardinal with a cow baby now. They will survive, we just dont need so many of them. Thanks Konrad!
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Hi- Not familiar with them, but think you have a Chipping Sparrow nest. & yes, almost certain that's a Cowbird egg. Not sure what law is in your area, but I would pick that egg up & have it ACCIDENTALLY slip through your hands. Otherwise, the Cowbird nestling will hog all the food the parents bring & their young could very well perish. You may want to post this pic on this site's "bird watching" forum to get another opinion, but do think that's what you're dealing with. Best of luck! Nicole
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dzyg
15 years ago
Why would you want to let it survive just so it could go on to do the same thing in another birds nest? I would throw it out but you do what you want. Waiting for hatching could still mean death to the others if you don't see that it has hatched right away, it will always get the food whereas the others won't and will die. I am sure you will get other advice but I guess you can do what you want to do.

Donna
Konrad___far_north
15 years ago
Agree on Donna's advise
chris8796
15 years ago
I would toss the cowbird egg. Cowbird numbers are booming. Many governmental bodies are actively trapping and destroying them to save other species, just search "cowbird control".
lisa11310
15 years ago
Shake or freeze the egg so it will not hatch and return it to the nest. Some say the Moma Cowbird will return to the nest and destroy the other babies if her egg goes missing. I have no clue if this is true or not. Definatly do not let that egg hatch!
bob414
15 years ago
This Nova Video pretty much proves that the mother Cowbird will destroy the other eggs if hers is missing.
She wants the other bird to lay new eggs so she can lay hers again.
dzyg
15 years ago
Wow bob414 that video was really interesting!! Yep I change my vote to take that cowbird egg and shake it to death or freeze it and then put it back.

Donna
russ2009
15 years ago
Thanks Bob for that video link. I watched it twice. I have those cowbirds daily at my bird feeders and never really knew what they were called. I am new to this birding thing and love it. Who would have guessed this nice looking bird could be so nasty and mean?
Thanks again.......Russ
terrene
15 years ago
Very interesting video! I wonder how they do cowbird control? At least they can provide nest boxes with small holes for the Prothonotary Warblers and keep the Cowbirds out.

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