Interesting nest

16 years ago

When this nesting first began I thought the species was tree swallow because they were constantly around the box. There were no feathers but my suspicions were confirmed (I thought) when the eggs turned out to be white. Imagine my surprise when, during a recent monitoring, I found a female bluebird incubating the eggs! I've seen white bluebird eggs before but they had a pinkish tinge to them. These look pure white--and the miniature eggs (as I've read) are infertile and will not hatch. We'll see about the other two! See, you never know what you'll find

when you open a nestbox!!!

Kathy

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Comments (6)

dzyg
16 years ago
I've heard of white eggs and dwarf eggs but have never seen them myself yet.

It looks like the nest is sitting on the ground. Did you take this nest out of the box and set it on the ground just for a picture?? I can't imagine taking out a nest without a need to (like for blowfly larva). You can use a mirror or hold the camera higher pointed down into the nest for photos.

Donna

Donna
griffin_MD
Original Author
16 years ago
You're right, Donna, I did remove the nest to be able to get a good picture. This nestbox is over 5' and would have been extremely difficult to photograph for someone of my height. I was fortunate to even have my camera with me this morning to photograph the dwarf eggs--they are rare. I've only seen them once before. They were blue, not white and were most likely removed by the female before I could get back to photograph them. It's rare to have white eggs and rarer still to have dwarf ones and I wanted to be certain to document them well. It is seldom that I remove an active nest from a nestbox, despite my years of experience, but I felt in this situation it was warranted.
Kathy
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lisa11310
16 years ago
Donna, Kathy has been around even longer than you and me (I think). In this case I think she had a valid reason to get a good photo, this is a rare case! BUT GREAT ADVISE to all the newer folks. NEVER remove an active nest unless there is an emergency! I will be interested to see what comes of this one!
janie_may
16 years ago
Kathy, this is flat out amazing!!!!! A picture is worth a thousand words.....
griffin_MD
Original Author
16 years ago
Hey, Janie!!!! Long time no "see"! Yes, it's very interesting--I'm waiting for hatchage, will visit tomorrow and see what's what. A friend of mine who monitors a trail north of town reports that she had a similar nesting earlier this season with 2 dwarf eggs and an over-sized egg in addition to 2 regular eggs. She tried to get a picture with her phone but it didn't take and unfortunately none of the eggs hatched. Hers were blue, by the way. I know the dwarf eggs will not hatch, but am hopeful with regard to the other 2. I'll keep you posted.
Kathy
griffin_MD
Original Author
16 years ago
Well, I'm pleased to report that the 2 normal-sized eggs have hatched and the babies are about 5 days old. The dwarf eggs did not hatch, of course, and though one of them was still in the nest, the 2nd one must have been removed.
Here are a couple of photos my friend sent me of the nesting on her trail that had deformed eggs:

Interesting nest

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Interesting nest

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