In the starling nest with the webcam soap opera-like events took place yesterday, April 26th. At 10.40 am a female bird arrived at the nest box, quickly laid an egg and left. About an hour later the male starling arrived and threw the egg out of the nest. About ten minutes later another female starling arrived unexpectedly and also laid an egg in the nest. At 12.20 the male arrived again and threw this egg too out.

See video clips of the events after the text.

Marko Mägi, bird ecology researcher at the University of Tartu, comments:

”Since it is difficult for a human eye to distinguish between individual starlings and even tell the sexes apart, it may be assumed that there is a fierce rivalry for one nest box. In the case in question different female birds try to foist their egg into the nest box left without a guard in order to get other starlings to take care of the incubation and upbringing. Such nest parasitism is far from rare and among birds, particularly passerines, it occurs quite often.

The pair that have recognized the nest box as their own seem however to keep an eye on happenings and eliminate the attempts at nest parasitism in the bud. Since birds are not skilled at counting eggs the strange females would be successful if the right female would already have laid one or two eggs in the nest. If one alien egg appears in the nest box the situation is however immediately clear for the starling pair – this is not our egg and we must definitely get rid of it.

The strategy of the so to say ”luck testers” is actually to go and lay an egg in the nest box as quickly and unnoticeably as possible. And just so these egg-layers in strange nests have behaved.“

The videos were recorded by Olle Koert, Teetormaja, www.tt.ee..

At 10.40 am a starling female arrived at the nest box and laid an egg in about a minute:

An hour later the male starling threw the egg out of the nest:

Ten minutes later another female came to the nest box and as quickly also laid an egg:

At 12:20 the male came back and threw this egg too out of the nest:

In the evening the starling pair arranged the nest, hopefully the ”right” female too will start laying eggs soon.

P.S.

This morning the master of the nest box has carefully guarded it against strangers.