Today we discovered another nest in our hanging flowers. This one has several eggs, and I can't wait to see if they hatch. We were very careful not to touch the eggs, or even breathe on them, for fear that Mama Bird might not return. I did, however, water the plant before I knew the eggs were there. This plant hangs right next to our front door, so I imagine if the birds do hatch, it will be hard to miss the commotion. Well, I imagine there must be commotion when such things happen. I'm not really sure.
I love the colors on the eggs. I did a little search in an effort to identify the bird type, and discovered the speckling of eggs might actually make them stronger. Of course, I also learned some distrubing things about other birds. Initially, I thought a sparrow may have laid these eggs. However, sparrows apparently build "messy" nests, and this is no such thing. This nest, as you can see, is nearly perfectly cup-shaped. Incidentally, I should be happy this is not a sparrow nest, as the sparrow is apparently a nasty little bird that attacks and kills other birds. Really? They seem pretty harmless.
Which lead me to worry that perhaps a cowbird has invaded another bird's nest. That might explain why some of the eggs are heavily speckled (cowbird eggs) and others are nearly plain white (the nest-builder's eggs). Cowbirds are also mean little birds, apparently, often destroying eggs belonging to the other bird. I've become very disillusioned with the whole bird world. I really thought they were happy, singing little creatures who lived in harmony with one another (with the exception of birds of prey, of course).
At the end of the day, I'm more confused than I started. I'm thinking I'll have to keep an eye out and see who lands and what, if anything, hatches. If we have any bird folks reading, I'd welcome any thoughts on just what might be growing in those eggs.