An Interesting Observation

This photo of a male Black-backed Woodpecker removing an egg from his nest was sent to me by Bill and Marsha Teague. Bill & Marsha had the campsite at Collier Memorial State Park where the Black-backed Woodpeckers had made a nest in a Lodge Pole Pine. We stopped by their campsite many times while we were at Collier the week before last and enjoyed watching both the male and female feeding young ones. Why this male would be removing an egg from the nest from which he has been busy feeding young birds is a bit of a mystery.  My best guess and it is truly a guess, is that perhaps it’s an egg that did not hatch and a bit of house cleaning is going on. If anyone has a better scientific explanation, please leave a comment.  I am very grateful to Bill & Marsha who spent many hours and days observing these Black-backs, and I thank them again for sharing this photograph.