Hi makibear. Try posting this over in the Bird Watching forum. It's under the nature forums at the top of the page, just click forums.

I don't know what got them, but the squirrels here have gone nuts. They act like they are starving to death. They chewed two holes in my deck box and it is thick. They try frantically to jump to my window feeders all day long. Chewed a hole in my screen. I finally had to take the feeders down. I really hate that. I had them there last year and the squirrels didn't bother them. I could watch hummers, woodpeckers and finch who sat 3 ft away. There are more birds this year also. I was wondering if the the winter weather is causing the squirrels to act like they are starving. I have fed birds and squirrels for years and never seen squirrels like this.

Sounds like you really have some challenges. You have my sympathies! A tiny poked hole is more likely a house wren's thin sharp beak, sometimes taking them some distance away, or simply tossing them out. The house sparrow will toss the eggs out, but their finch-like beak would not as likely make a tiny poke hole. And the HOSP is more likely to stick around, harass, or even take over the cavity. "Do BB's destroy their own eggs" ... No "the nest possibly could have been flooded?" ... are there leaks that could be fixed? "Are the HOSP really sneaky" ... yes, but HOWR are sneakier ... "and resistant to the Sparrow Spooker?" ... yes, and house wrens will not be deterred by a sparrow spooker. House Wrens are even sneakier, faster and silent, leaving no evidence behind, only destroying eggs or young. You might hear them singing, but might never, ever see them! There are some links to sound files of house wren song and chatter on Bet's web pages, so you can learn to hear the unwelcome sounds of house wrens. Visit Bet's web page for more info. And by the way, the Carolina Wren is a very different bird, welcome almost anywhere; not a threat to other birds. BlueBars Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.sialis.org/index.html

That smaller egg is definitely a Cowbird egg. I got in a HEAP of trouble a few weeks back when I was trying to get some advice on this subject (see the reg. birding forum under "Cowbird Egg in Finch Nest - probably on about pg. 3 by now, for the fracas...), so tread very carefully. I - how shall I say - "took care of" the egg in question. Only you can choose what to do with your interloper egg, but be ready to get flamed by most of the GW birding world for your "illegal, unethical, criminal, (et al)" behavior if you mention it here.