What have we here?

Let's put a little more light on the subject:

Aha! It's a branch with a nest in it! And the nest contained an egg!

On Tuesday, I was pruning the "miniature" (I didn't think miniatures were supposed to get so huge!) lilac bush in front of our house. I noticed this little nest which appeared to have been abandoned. At least I wasn't getting scolded by any birds as I was pruning, so I had no qualms about lopping off that branch. Courtney was thrilled with the nest, and she saved it to show her cousins who were coming that afternoon with Grandma H to pick her up.

Another reason I didn't feel bad about taking down the nest was that I was quite sure the nest belonged to a chipping sparrow, as they seem to build nests in that bush every year... but the egg looked like that of a cowbird. Remember this one from last year? Yep, it apparently happened again.

So Courtney and her cousins (you'll be seeing them here next week!) took the nest and egg (minus the branch) to Grandma H's. They told me the next day that somehow (I'm not quite sure on the details) the egg got broken open... and there was a baby bird inside! I was surprised at that. But I still didn't feel too bad, 'cause I'm still sure it was a cowbird. And I still think the nest had been abandoned.

Poor little chipping sparrows. They work so hard, and that's what they get for their labors.

P.S. Did you notice my hibiscus plant(s) in the background of the first photo? I had cut it back and repotted it this spring, and it's just now beginning to bloom again. I may get some pics of the flowers as more come on. Or maybe you've seen enough hibiscus flowers on this blog. ;)

Dilemma!

Yesterday morning I was pruning our miniature lilac bush next to the house (miniature, ha! it's gotten pretty huge over the years!) while Courtney was squirting water at me (a story for another time). I soon realized I was being scolded mightily by a tiny chirping bird off in a nearby tree.

I figured I must be very close to a nest of some kind, and it didn't take me long to find it in the "mini" bush. Here it is below:

Interesting, huh? Those eggs don't match! Hmmm.....

The tiny blue eggs belong to a chipping sparrow. Remember the nest from a couple years ago?

Soooo.... what about that extra egg? A little online searching last night told me that it belongs to a cowbird. They don't make nests of their own, but instead they lay their eggs in other unsuspecting birds' nests. Pretty lazy, if you ask me. So this poor other bird incubates and hatches out the baby cowbird(s). The cowbird usually chooses the nest of a smaller bird, and since the cowbird egg often hatches more quickly, that little baby cowbird is bigger and gets most if not all of the food the parents bring, and the other babies often don't make it. NOT FAIR, huh?!

I've read that it's illegal to destroy the cowbird egg! And even if I did, the cowbird might just replace it with another egg. Some people do destroy them. Some shake them hard so they won't hatch, then place them back in the nest just to prevent the cowbird from laying another in there. Some let nature take its course.

I hate what's going on! What do I do? What would YOU do?

Update: Thursday, July 15th - I checked the nest this morning, and one of the sparrow eggs was missing. I forgot to mention that another thing the cowbirds will do to ensure that their eggs get hatched is to knock the other eggs out of the nest. Does THAT change your opinion as to how this little dilemma should be handled?