On my daily walk in the woods I pass a high bank covered with gracefully curved grass; today I noticed that it had begun to flower, sending up a fine stalk ending in a delicate spray, almost difficult to see. So, I leaned in close to take a look, which resulted in two startled creatures: me, and a small brown bird that erupted into flight from beneath the foliage.
Looking down, I saw a small rounded nest built into the detritus of the bank, lined with pine needles and edged with green moss. Inside were three perfectly shaped blue eggs. I went home to get my camera and when I returned, the bird was back on her nest and again flew off at my appearance. Speaking with a friend this afternoon, I discovered that I'd found a thrush's nest (I don't know what type, a hermit thrush maybe), which makes sense because both bluebirds and robins, who lay blue eggs, are also thrushes. Seeing such a jeweled color nestled in the dun colors of the woods is a lovely surprise. It also makes me wonder why, in a survival of the fittest inquiry, the eggs are so brilliant.
Could be a hermit or a veery on the ground. Look for the hermit's brown head and back and reddish tail or the veery, reddish brown all over. What a great find! The eggs are very bright. I have always wondered about this too. They are almost always covered by the mama, and mammals don't really have good color vision, but are keyed to movement -- I don't know a good reason to be bright blue to start with, but the thrushes seem to have survived anyway. It is an astonishing color.
ReplyDeleteSusan, thanks for the tip on bird identification. If I see her again, I'll try to notice the color. I wonder if the bright color is to help the bird find the eggs when they return to the nest from a foraging trip. But then why don't all birds have brightly colored eggs?...
ReplyDeleteWhat a treasure! Beautifully photographed too!
ReplyDeletethanks Maggie, glad you like the photo. It wasn't easy to get because the light was fairly dim. I tried doing a closeup, but couldn't manage to get it in focus.
ReplyDeleteThere's a good question. Most eggs are either camouflaged or plain. The cavity-nesters' eggs are usually plain white, which makes sense. I'm going to try to find the answer, because it is very curious.
ReplyDeleteJust an uneducated guess, but sometimes brightly colored things are poisonous. Perhaps that mimicry is the defense? Then again they are usually covered over by foliage. I've seen robins nests in bushes a lot. It's like the proverbial, "Why is the sky blue?"
ReplyDeleteSusan, I hope you can find an answer for us. And Kim, there is a reason the sky is blue, something about how light hits the atmosphere; maybe your idea of mimicry of poisonous things is the answer, or it's a better color for hiding in foliage?
ReplyDeleteThese are extraordinary Altoon ...I would be so delighted to have come across this,
ReplyDeleteSophie
i think i have one in my room that my friend found in a parkinglot
ReplyDeletealtoon, were the eggs about the size of the first knuckle on your thumb?
ReplyDeleteto be honest, Anon., it was a long time ago and I don't remember the size. But Susan's ID can be relied on, so they were either hermit or veery thrush eggs, so you can look them up.
ReplyDelete