I found half of a house sparrow egg shell in my garden yesterday. It seems evident from the way it had broken that the chick hatched naturally, as opposed to having been predated. I do have a pair of house sparrows nesting in a nestbox on my outside wall, and the the chicks must have hatched very recently because I have seen both parents going in and out frequently for the past day or two with insects in their beaks. I was just wondering if it's likely that the egg shell I found was from this nest? It was about 20 feet away from the nestbox, under a bush. This is the only pair I know that are nesting anywhere near. Would the parents remove the shells once they are empty? Or would it be more likely that this shell fell out of another nearby nest that I do not know about/found its way into my garden by other means?
I know I'm not really explaining myself very eloquently (I have a headache and it's very very humid here today!!), so I hope this makes sense!
I believe most birds do discard the egg shells away from their nest site to confuse preditors. We have found numerous shells in our garden, yet the nests are next door
Of all creatures, man is the most detestable, he is the only creature that inflicts pain for sport, knowing it to be pain. ~ Mark Twain
Hi AnnaBanana
Yes - The parent birds do remove the shells after hatching to keep the nest area clean and hygienic as possible. They will usually drop them some distance from the nest site to confuse predators.
Enjoy your new babies!
CJ
Thank you both for your answers, very helpful! I can't wait for the chicks to fledge, although I am a bit anxious as last year most of them met a sorry end thanks to next door's cat :(
Hi..........I have got a camera nestbox in my garden with Blue Tits in.They hatched 9+ eggs ........I actually saw one of the parents eating the hatched eggshells!! I suppose that it is a good source of calcium for them.
'My favourite weather is bird chirping weather'.........Terri Guillemets