5 robin eggs, 1 brown-headed cowbird egg.
this post was submitted on 13 May 2025
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Found these six robin eggs in the hanging fern on our front porch. Walked outside to pick up a package and saw the bird fly out of the plant. The main picture was taken on the 8th.
Here's a picture of them from today. All six eggs are still there, but they have not hatched yet:
Is that for real? How would there be two species of eggs together? Is it common?
For the cowbird this is normal. Cowbirds are brood parasites, it's snuck in whilst the robin was away and laid it's egg for the robin to raise. If the robin is smart enough to notice what's happened they will often still raise it anyway, as the adult cowbird will be keeping an eye on the host nest and will destroy the other eggs if the robin rejects it.
Brown-headed cowbirds are brood parasites; they lay their eggs in nests of other species and then their chicks are raised by the birds who made the nest, often at the expense of the nest-owners' offspring. Nature is really crazy sometimes.
Google the cuckoo
Remove that slightly bigger white egg, or it will destroy all others after it hatches. Its a “competing” birds egg.
Edit: Check your countries laws…
Turns out, it's illegal to remove them in the US:
I'll be leaving the cowbird egg in the nest, but will keep a close eye on the other eggs.
Oh wow, glad you checked.
I've heard that the cowbird will retaliate if it finds its egg missing. Won't that happen?
I don’t know this exact species, but cuckoos usually monitor the nest. However no matter what, original bird’s offsprings wont survive as they will be removed. If the cuckoo “retaliates” it wont change anything. Its better to toss the egg and monitor the nest.
This is a great photo thanks for sharing