Some people will never forget their first kiss. I will never forget my first white egg in a bluebird nest on my own trail. Actually I didn't even realize it was white until I briefly removed the nest to install a Sparrow Spooker to deter House Sparrows (drilling to attach it to the box could potentially addle the eggs.) In the past ten years, I have only seen one other nest with white eggs, and it was in a nest on a friend's trail in Eastford, CT. This one had a slightly pinkish tint not visible int eh photo (it had been laid that day obviously, since bluebirds lay one egg a day and there was only one egg in the nest.)
An estimated 4-5% of bluebirds lay white eggs in lieu of the typical blue. A female that lays white eggs will always and only lay white eggs. More info.
This nest is in a Troyer box, which appears to be a popular choice for bluebirds, along with Gilwoods.
Genetics of egg shell color (chickens). Note: In chickens, the blue gene is dominant over white. Chickens with one blue gene and one recessive white gene may lay eggs that are lighter blue. The blue eggshell pigment, oocyanin, is a byproduct of bile formation and is present throughout the eggshell.
You cannot begin to preserve any species of animal unless you preserve the habitat in which it dwells. Disturb or destroy that habitat and you will exterminate the species as surely as if you had shot it. So conservation means that you have to preserve forest and grassland, river and lake, even the sea itself. This is vital not only for the preservation of animal life generally, but for the future existence of man himself—a point that seems to escape many people.
-Gerald Durrell, The Nature Conservancy
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