The results of the poll 'What would you do if you found a nest in which a cowbird had laid its egg alongside the "nest owner's" eggs?' are as follows:
- Dump that cowbird egg out! (5 votes)
- Shake the cowbird egg hard and then return it. (1 vote)
- Refrigerate the cowbird egg and return it after the other eggs have hatched. (3 votes)
- Let nature take its course. (5 votes)
- Other (0 votes)
Interesting results, especially as to how many voted to refrigerate the cowbird egg. :-)
Well, as it turns out, it's all kind of a moot point, anyway. I did let nature take its course, just to see what would happen. As I mentioned before, one of the sparrow eggs was gone after a couple of days. The day after that, I checked again and was very surprised to find that the cowbird egg was missing! Maybe a bird war going on? So, down to one egg. Unfortunately, after that the nest was abandoned. Yesterday I checked again, just to see if the egg was still there. It was, but it had a hole in it. I picked it out of the nest to look a little closer. Not a good move! The shell was very fragile and broke in my fingers. Eeuww! Well, you know what rotten eggs smell like... mix that with a bit of dead birdie... NOT pleasant, to say the least. ;-(
So much for that lesson on cowbird activity. I think we might label it "Nature's Struggles, part 5". (Yeah, yeah... I know... parts 2 & 3 are still missing. Someday... ) I also think if I ever find another cowbird egg in some other bird's nest, I might be tempted to do something illegal. Shhhhh! 'Course even if I had this time, the end result might've been the same, anyway.
Thanks to all who voted! And especially to those who may have had to be patient in waiting for the poll to work right and show their vote.
I think polls are fun. If anyone has suggestions for other polls, let me know!
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