So birds decided to nest in my hanging basket again, and as I too it down to water I noticed one of the eggs looks different than the others. Does anyone here know why that is? Should I take out the brown egg and smash it on the pavement?
>>4777076yes, when the eggs hatch the one from the brown one will prob kill the others
>>4777076What kind of bird is it?
>>4777076The impostor egg looks like a brown-headed cowbird egg.
>>4777076If you smash it there’s a chance that whatever laid it will come back and kill the rest
>>4777149I have seen people suggest quickly boiling the brood parasite egg, then putting it back, IF you know it is a brood parasite. That means it won't hatch and kill its broodmates, and the parasite parent won't go on a melty and wreck up the place either.But I have not ever found one myself, no idea how good an idea that actually is.
As wrong as brood parasitism might feel, brown-headed cowbirds are still native species that need to survive. Smashing all their eggs won't teach them a lesson and make them stop doing it. If you want to be helpful then exterminate invasive species. Pin-tailed Whydahs are invasive and also brood parasites.
>>4777180Its my garden i make the rules
>>4777404Based.
>>4777180They are not native in the eastern US, they only expanded their range because of humans deforesting it. It's only a political matter that it's the same country, they are not native to the region. I WILL snipe female cowbirds because I don't want to ever stop hearing wood thrushes sing (look it up they're amazing). Wood thrush never evolved any defenses against brood parasites because they have no natural ones. Cowbirds are new to their range, and it is really cutting into their population.
>>4777084>yes, when the eggs hatch the one from the brown one will prob kill the othersHow does a non-sapient species evolve to behave this way?
>>4777153Not an expert but that doesn’t sound like a bad idea, the only other issue I could probably see is it coming and not seeing theirs hatch when the others have and potentially still sperging out out of spite or whatever
>>4777149>>4777153Wait, what? Not only is the parasite child a murderous asshole, its parent is a spiteful cunt to boot?Captcha: nhsus
>>4777149>whatever laid it will come back and kill the restWhy are those bird such jerkass
>>4777922I think people exaggerate how much this really happens. Cuckoo chicks push the other eggs out of the nest, cowbirds don't, they are just bigger and louder than their "siblings" and take up too much of the parents energy, which can cause the legit offspring to die from malnourishment.Come to think of it, killing the others as eggs is a better fate.
I've seen chipping sparrow feeding a cowbird. And 2 of her own sparrow chicks. The cowbird demands more food and grows so quickly.This is interestinghttps://www.audubon.org/news/how-does-cowbird-learn-be-cowbird
>>4777439OP never said which part of the US he's from
>>4777180Just because they're native doesn't mean they shouldn't be wiped out.
>>4777153update us OP if you decide to go with this
>>4777076>>4777133>brown-headed cowbirdThis is the first thing that came to my mind since theyre a parasitic-something-or-other (cant remember) that lays eggs in other birds' nests
