This retractable mirror allows me to take a look inside the nests I find. My research largely focuses on egg rejection, removing foreign eggs from the nest, of American robins. Days earlier, the mother of this nest rejected a beige foreign egg that I placed inside. A few days later, in fact when I took this specific peek inside the nest, one of her nestlings was actively hatching while its siblings had already emerged from their shells. Just like that, I’d watched a new batch of baby birds enter this world. What would come of this new life? I continued to check on them because I find their growth journey to be endearing. As they age, speckles appear on their body and tufts of down feathers grace their heads. If I was lucky, I’d get a glimpse of them before or after they fledge the nest. I wonder about if they’ll succeed in surviving their first year. Life is hard for new birds. I wonder if they’ll migrate and leave Urbana, Illinois. Mostly though, I wonder about where they might have their own nests one day… and if they might one day discover in that nest an unfamiliar egg.
