Comments on: Queens of their boxes

By: Marty

Marty — Mon, 12 May 2008 18:10:58 +0000

We’re fortunate enough to have a pair of chickadees who have laid 7 eggs in one of our nestboxes – along with 3 boxes of house sparrows (@#$!), and breeding cardinals, titmice and blue jays somewhere around our yard (not sure where exactly, though).

I don’t know exactly what it is, but it’s always special to have breeders in your yard, isn’t it?

By: mon@rch

mon@rch — Thu, 08 May 2008 02:43:29 +0000

@ Linda – they sure do! Actually they have both blue and white eggs! I bet we can find a paper somewhere on why some have white and some have blue!
@ Liza – Thanks and I hear you!
@ Nick – thanks and sorry you are not getting any Rough-winged Swallows! We have many of them here in the park! Don’t worry about BOS . . . they will like anything you tell them!
@ Pinar – They look like easter candy! Blush and thanks!
@ Jayne – thanks and I will try to remember to capture their picture before banding them chicks!
@ Lisa – It will have to be a little while . . . I have a busy week next week! But I will get to them here soon! Heck maybe I have some owls in a few of the boxes we put up!
@ Toni – thanks and when the bird starts developing the egg in her body she first starts to form a hard shell around the egg (comes from calcium in her body). Just before the final process were she lays the egg, she has a way of coating the egg with spots or even give it some color. Now I am not sure if the blue comes from the Calcium or another chemical in her body . . . but somehow it stains the egg.
@ Bird Girl – Just hatched . . I should have been watching these guys . . I have no idea how long she has been sitting! My two boxes are a good distance away from each other!
@ Cas – I do have custom Bluebird Boxes and if I can remember I can send you the directions for making these boxes! I believe it’s a PDF file! Email me from my bio if I happen to forget to send it!
@ Scienceguy . . . . Yes and great description! Although your camouflage doesn’t help our bluebird friends since they are in a box (and their blue coloring isn’t a need for camouflage)! But with other birds the camo is very important for all the reason’s you stated!
@ Joan – thanks and maybe try pointing them in different directions or something to change for whatever reason they are not interested! Actually it took my bluebirds 2 years before finding these boxes! Sorry about the snake . . . that does happen!
@ Lvn – thanks and I was thinking the same thing!

By: lvn600

lvn600 — Thu, 08 May 2008 00:27:53 +0000

Those eggs are so nice and glossy that they look like something that was decorated for easter.

By: Joan

Joan — Wed, 07 May 2008 21:43:42 +0000

You are so lucky to have Bluebirds nesting. I have had several boxes near our house without any luck. In our back pasture, I had one box that attracted bluebirds but unfortunately a snake got the babies.

By: scienceguy288

scienceguy288 — Wed, 07 May 2008 19:47:31 +0000

@ toni: Mr. Tom, hate to steal your thunder, but I just learned about this. The pigments that give bird eggs color were developed via natural selection as cryptic coloration or camouflage. To a color-blind predator, the colored eggs blend in better in the nest than white ones. Since these birds often leave the nest unattended, leading to this adaptation.