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Identifying backyard bird eggs
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A robin's nest and eggs.
Spring is baby bird time and while hanging around outdoors you may find egg shells on the ground or in a nest with a potential bird family inside. Identifying bird eggs can be fun as it lets you know not only what’s flying about in your neck of the woods, but also what’s thriving in your area.
Wild bird eggs come in an assortment of sizes and colors. Some are beautiful and some just make you gasp by their very size such as hummingbird eggs which are only the size of a large pea.
Identifying bird eggs is a great exercise for kids as well as adults as it sharpens your eye for detail and teaches you how to ask the right questions when trying to identify things that are unfamiliar.
Identify Where the Egg Came From
If you see egg shells on the ground, the first thing you may want to ask yourself is did predator get the eggs? Or did a baby bird hatch?
If there’s yolk on or near the shell, more than likely a predator was raiding the nest and dropped this egg. Predators include raccoons, crows, jays, and opossums. If the eggshell is clean inside, then a baby bird probably hatched and the shell fell out of the nest.
Whose Egg is it?
Most songbirds have their own idea of how many eggs they’ll lay depending on their species. Most of them lay one egg a day until that number is reached and birds lay eggs for the early spring through late summer. Below are some clues to help you identify backyard bird eggs.
- Blue Jay – They usually lay 4 - 5 eggs that are 1 1/8 x 13/16 inches. They’re pale olive to a buff color with some dark spots.
- Robin – Robin’s usually lay 4 eggs that are 1 1/8 x 3/4 inches. The eggs are a clear pastel blue. Just gorgeous.
- Western Bluebird – They lay 4-6 eggs that are 13/16 x 5/8 inches. Their eggs are pale blue.
- Black-capped chickadee – these guys lay 6-8 eggs that are 9/16 x 7/16 inches and are white with small reddish-brown dots.
- House Sparrow – They usually lay 5 eggs that are 7/8 x 5/8 inches. The sparrow’s eggs can be white, pale blue or green with a few brown or gray dots.
- House Wren – They lay 6-8 eggs that are 7/8 x 5/8 inches. Their eggs are white with brown speckles.
- Tufted Titmouse – The titmouse lays 5-6 eggs that are ¾ x 9/16 inches. They eggs are white or creamy with tiny reddish-brown speckles.
- Starling – They lay 4-6 eggs that are 1 1/8 x 3/16 inches. They can be white, pale blue or green.
- Hummingbirds (Anna’s, Rufous, Black-chinned) – They lay 2 eggs, about the size of a large pea or a jellybean and they’re white.
- American Goldfinch – They lay 4-6 eggs. Pale bluish-white in color, and sometimes have faint brown spots around large end.
Like bird watching, egg identification can become a wildlife hobby and you may want to keep a little notebook to keep a record of the eggs found, the day, month and year. Make your notebook attractive and interesting by drawing pictures of the eggs you find.
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