Enterprising blackbirds hatch early

Richard Collins sheds some light on why birds seem to have tricked nature.

TWO Cork birds deserve the Entrepreneur of the Year award. Blackbirds start laying in the middle of March with the more precocious pairs getting going a week or two earlier. Then, a most unusual nest was discovered on a Christmas tree in the grounds of University College Cork. Professor John O’Halloran of the Zoology Department had a web-cam installed and began monitoring the nest, reporting on its progress for RTÉ’s Mooney Show. The first egg, he thinks, was laid on January 5, an extraordinarily early date. There were three eggs in the clutch, but it seemed unlikely that any would hatch. Would they even be fertile? Against all the odds, however, they were; three chicks were produced. One died but, on February 4, the remaining two fledged.

Human entrepreneurs want to generate profits. For birds, offspring are the equivalent of profits. Producing plenty of descendants helps ensure your immortality; the genes are passed on to future generations. Most blackbirds have either two or three clutches in a season. Occasionally, a pair has a fourth, and there are a few records of a fifth. All going well the UCC pair should manage at least three broods this year.