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I found this nest in my side yard and a cardinal sits on it. I looked up what kind of eggs these are and I suspect they are cowbird eggs. The two on the top were there 1st and the one on the bottom showed up a day later. The spotting on the bottom egg seems lighter than the other and the bottom is not completely brown. Are these ALL cowbird eggs? Or is it possible I have one cardinal egg?

 

I would keep an eye on the hatchlings for sure. Pretty sure the cowbirds would hatch a day or two before the cardinal.

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Don't cry because it's over, smile because you were there.

Those look like Cardinal eggs to me. I believe cowbird eggs are blueish green. I could have this information wrong, I am going to double check it. But I think cowbirds will find a nest and deposit their eggs into it and abandon them, basically leaving cowbirds to be incubated by other birds. So, that may be what the cowbird was doing by this nest, but those look like Cardinal eggs...very pretty!

They look like cardinal eggs to me.  I worked a NOCA project for a couple seasons and one way to tell NOCA and BHCH eggs apart is my the splotching.  NOCA eggs are MUCH more concentrated towards the large end of the egg, BHCB eggs are slightly more uniform.  The NOCA splotches look like they penetrate many layers of the egg, whereas those in BHCB egg look like they are deposited on the surface layer.  BHCB eggs are slightly smaller.  I would call all of those eggs in the pick Northern Cardinal.  But, definitely you can tell the chick apart by their begging calls. 

Sweety, will you keep us updated on this? How exciting!

Yeah, you might wanna gt that bird cam.

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Today I woke up in a bird's nest.

Thanks for all your quick replies! I am excited too! I have been calling them my babies and I can see the momma sitting on them right outside my living room window. She's cute! I am so excited these are cardinal eggs! I am definitely keeping an eye on these. I am going to photograph them again soon (that photo was taken 3 days ago and she got mad at me and chirped at me when she saw me near her nest, so I have tried to leave her be for awhile) What is the incubation period? Oh, why do I hardly ever see daddy cardinal? Where do the males go while the female sits and cares for the eggs?

Do you have a picture of her on her nest? I am so jealous...I live in Utah and there are no Cardinals here...I went to the Boston area last fall and I didn't see one!

Oh, I wanted to post some more pics....

This picture was the 1st day I saw the nest...I love the newspaper in there...it's in Spanish.  

Here's the mom sitting in the nest. Sorry the quality of the pic is awful...I took it through a window

 

You were way ahead of me! LOL  That picture is SO GREAT! Thank you for sharing! I LOVE their beaks!

I know! They look like they have lipstick on! I guess I have two cardinal couple that hang out around my house. I have a male and female that come to the feeder and then the female from the nest that comes alone. I have only seen her with a male once. I wonder what the deal is with that? Deadbeat dad? haha

Male cardinals are not deadbeat dads.  I've seen male cardinals approach the nest while the female is still building it..I guess just checking it out.  And I've seen male cardinals feed females while the female is on the nest incubating.  And once the chicks hatch from the eggs, believe me, the male will be around much more.  Feeding the chicks and often approaching the nest with a mouth full of food and chipping or singing softly. And they will be seen with the fledges.  A female cardinal will sometimes renest while the fledges are still being fed by the adults and the male has a huge role in feeding the older fledges. Nest failure is high among certain populations of nesting birds and it's amazing to see them grow from egg to fledge or whatever their fate may be. 

Yeah.  My school mascot is a cardinal!  It's my avatar.

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Today I woke up in a bird's nest.

Bad news. This morning I saw the male and female cardinal fly up to the nest. Then they both flew away. I went outside to see the nest since I thought it was odd that she wasnt laying in it all morning. I went out and looked on the ground and saw one egg broken. Then I looked at the nest and it was all destroyed. I am not sure if the other eggs are in there but I am guessing they arent. Here are some pics

 

From the top: 

From the side

 

I am so sad. Poor cardinals.

Aww...I am so sorry...that is just a shame. I wonder what happened....I know how exciting this was. Oh well, maybe they are going to start over again some where else.