Egg Identification
Posted by Mary Meyerpeter on April 12, 2008
Q: I need help with an egg ID question. The was laid in a nest box built for wood ducks, right on the edge of the water by a seasonal wetlands area, with agricultural rice fields and cattle pastures around. I'm thinking this bird must be a cavity nester, possibly some type of waterfowl. Sorry I can't provide measurements or anything, the egg broke, but it was a dull creamy color with dark red/clay colored blotches, very round, and slightly smaller than a wood duck egg. We often have mergansers and barn owls laying in the nest boxes, but I dont think they lay blotched eggs?
Habitat: field/meadow
State: California
Habitat: field/meadow
A: Sounds like you've done some good sleuthing - I think you've figured out what it might be. Your suggestion that it might be a Barn Owl sounds right to me. It doesn't sound like a duck egg and the fact that it's in a nest box does limit the number of possibilities.
You're right that Barn Owls don't have blotched eggs but they often do stain their eggs accidentally during incubation. So...my best guess on this would be the Barn Owl.
Hope this helps and thanks for asking.
John Wiessinger ( April 14, 2008)