DavidJJones
Garden Bird & Bug Watcher
Just as the Chicks that have featured in my webcam over these last few weeks have fledged, in the adjacent box a new nest is being built, and which is providing me with a puzzle.
A pair of Starlings moved into this box a week or so ago, and have needed to defend it from intruders who I suspect would also like to use the box. Although nest building is under way with both partners bringing in materials, the nest cup still had a wooden floor when the female laid her first egg yesterday morning soon after 9am. Around noon, just after she left the box, another Starling came in, picked the egg up in its beak and left the box. The attached sequence of cctv images shows the theft in progress.
This morning the same thing happened again, but this time the egg was stolen within an hour of being laid. There is no sign of broken eggs on the ground around our property so I wonder where they are being taken.
Despite the losses, the pair continue to build the nest, and I'm hoping they still have eggs to hatch one it is complete.
I'm at a loss to explain why the thefts are happening and I would be grateful for any explanations you can offer.
A pair of Starlings moved into this box a week or so ago, and have needed to defend it from intruders who I suspect would also like to use the box. Although nest building is under way with both partners bringing in materials, the nest cup still had a wooden floor when the female laid her first egg yesterday morning soon after 9am. Around noon, just after she left the box, another Starling came in, picked the egg up in its beak and left the box. The attached sequence of cctv images shows the theft in progress.
This morning the same thing happened again, but this time the egg was stolen within an hour of being laid. There is no sign of broken eggs on the ground around our property so I wonder where they are being taken.
Despite the losses, the pair continue to build the nest, and I'm hoping they still have eggs to hatch one it is complete.
I'm at a loss to explain why the thefts are happening and I would be grateful for any explanations you can offer.
