We observed a Violet-green Swallow (Tachycineta thalassina) laying an egg in an active Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) nest. The Western Bluebird male and not the female, was aggressive to the Violet-green Swallow but the swallow remained to lay the egg. This is the first documented incidence of which we are aware involving altricial interspecific egg-laying during the nestling phase. We suggest the timing of this event was more consistent with incidental egg deposition, or egg-dumping, than brood parasitism or nest usurpation.
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1 March 2007
Interspecific Egg-dumping by a Violet-green Swallow in an Active Western Bluebird Nest
Danika Kleiber,
Jenne Turner,
Amber E. Budden,
Janis L. Dickinson
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The Wilson Journal of Ornithology
Vol. 119 • No. 1
March 2007
Vol. 119 • No. 1
March 2007