Any ideas what sort of eggs they are?

[reynardo]

The garden has got somewhat overgrown, and I was in charge of cutting back the triffid vine from around the henhouse. On one corner I found this nest, still occupied. The nest itself is about 12 cm across, and the eggs themselves about 4cm long - I didn't get them out at all.

We found a much larger abandonned nest in one of the other bushes - that one is about 24cm across, and had no eggs in it.

Any ideas? I left that corner of the henhouse unclipped - it looks quite weird compared to the rest of the trimmed henhouse.

Comments

[freyaw.livejournal.com]

Don't have a clue, I'm afraid - but how high off the ground is the nest? Does it have anything but sticks (feathers, mud, random-seeming objects)? Are there bodies of water nearby (various ornamental waters appear to be enough for the herons in and around the Parklands here - there used to be a pair nesting in the gumtree behind work; the nearest water is the mostly dry ornamental stream through the Parkland around Veale Gardens and the ornamental waterholes in the area)? Are the eggs beige or white or otherwise coloured?

Also, do I have permission to pass this photo on to the rabid birder who is my father?

[freyaw.livejournal.com]

Also, while I think of it, is there evidence of the parent birds spending lots of time there? While the herons were nesting, my boss would complain a lot about the evidence left on his car (which he parked underneath the nest site)...

[reynardo.livejournal.com]

OK, it's about a half-km from the nearest water, it's 6 foot off the ground, and has very little feathers or other stuff in it (the abandonned nest we found had some bandage-gauze in it, strangely enough). The eggs are a creamy white. We're wondering Indian Myners or something that size.

[freyaw.livejournal.com]

There's a few varieties of things that will pad their nests with spiderwebs. Bandage gauze is probably in the same category as hair or shed fur.

If the inhabited egg is all sticks, it won't be a Common Myna (otherwise known as an Indian Mynah) as they have messy nests with lots of random stuff. Also, they prefer tree hollows and similar crevices (like the eaves of houses), or so says my bird book (which has it's permanent home next to my computer :P )

I'm trawling through the portion on nests and eggs in the bird book now :)

[freyaw.livejournal.com]

Oh, and if you can remember any details of birds that have been hanging around the yard, I find Birds In Backyards to be helpful in identifying them, especially the more common ones, without a bird book.

[reynardo.livejournal.com]

Mainly mynas, the occasional wattle-bird, sparrows, and wood-pigeons. And those grey mynas.

[freyaw.livejournal.com]

The grey mynas are Noisy Miners.

[freyaw.livejournal.com]

Do you mean any of these ones by 'wood-pigeon'?

Crested Pigeon
Common Bronzewing
Brush Bronzewing

According to my bird book, those ones are not inconsistent with the (inhabited) nest you've described. Won't be a Noisy Miner, Miners (unlike Mynas) are Honeyeaters and Honeyeaters have speckled and/or spotted and/or brownish eggs. Of course, the bird book doesn't describe the nests of introduced species, so I can't differentiate the Common Mynas...

[reynardo.livejournal.com]

Crested pigeons hang around. Could be one of those. On reading the "breeding" note, it makes sense - the nest is very neat compared to the other we found. I'll keep an eye out.

[freyaw.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I'm sorry for spamming this page with comments - you happened to hit one of my interests and the research monkey in my head went *ping!*

[panacea1.livejournal.com]

You Ozzies do realize that the notion of Mynah birds in any context other than "Expensive Exotic Pet" is strange and wonderful, don't you?

:-)

[bast-believer.livejournal.com]

Like the category of 'nuisance'? though it is funny when they dive bomb the cats.

They are one of our most common types. you see them everywhere.