Help! Eggs being rolled out!

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hopeathome
Posts: 31
Joined: Tue May 02, 2006 2:25 pm
Location: Fayette,Missouri

I have now found 2 broken eggs on the ground and another is out of a nest on the ledge.
I have starling resistant openings. My houses are in a small town setting and close to the my home so I can easily observe what is going on. I've not seen any predator birds, snakes, or wild animals.
There is a sparrow around...is it possible that the sparrow is going into the martin house? (I've never seen it do that)
Any ideas as to what is going on? I've never had this trouble before.
Any suggestions would be most appreciated.



Here is my post form a couple of days ago:
I have only 3 nesting pair in one of my houses and 2 in another. My colony decreased year before last year from about 15 nesting pair. I looked in on my nests and it looks like there are 6 nest in one house (the one with 3 pair) and eggs laid in 4 of them. Most of the eggs were laid right by the opening, off the nest. I moved the eggs in each compartment back a little in the nest so that they could sit on them.
My question is, why have they laid eggs in compartments that they are not in all the time and did I do the right thing by moving the eggs away from the opening and back into the nest?


Thanks so much,
Hope
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Properly trained, man can be a dog's best friend.

~ Corey Ford, American Writer
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Craig Dyer
Posts: 500
Joined: Fri May 13, 2005 2:24 pm
Location: Nevada, TX
Martin Colony History: Area is rural. Offer 28 compartments...metal housing (Lonestar Goliad) & Supergourds all w/crescent entrance holes. Purple martins are abundant here and eager for quality, well maintained, safe housing. Expect near 100% occupancy this season.

Hi Hope,
Sometimes the female martin will remove or push aside eggs that are not viable. I have no idea how they know this, but they appear to know. Sub-adult females will sometimes lay eggs here and there, frequently not even in the nest bowl. Perhaps these eggs are infertile, or maybe the sub-adult females are simply inexperienced. I wouldn't worry too much about it, I think its fairly common. I see the same issues often.
Craig Dyer
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hopeathome
Posts: 31
Joined: Tue May 02, 2006 2:25 pm
Location: Fayette,Missouri

Thanks Craig :grin:
All of my females are subs...so that explains a lot.
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jr 2
Posts: 749
Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2011 3:20 pm
Location: ohio,proctorville(just across ohio river from huntington,west virginia)

I have 3 asy pair that are renesting;;;they laid eggs and it got tooo cold;;I had seen the eggs had been pushed out of nest bowl too front of enlarged[double] compartment;;jr2
PMCA member; s 2011 2 pair fledged 3; 2012 3 asy pair,4 sy pair,2013 8 asy pair,6 sy pair;2014 19 asy pair,2 sy pair
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Louise Chambers
Site Admin
Posts: 6208
Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2003 1:07 pm
Location: Corpus Christi, TX

Broken eggs on the ground sure sounds like House Sparrow activity - try to work on trapping or shooting the house sparrow.
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