Expert: Roger Lederer - 5/30/2007

Question
I live in Kansas City Missouri. We have many pairs of Cardinals around my
house. I think beside my Mocking bird they are my favorite bird. Well I had a
pair make a nest out side my window in the rose bushes. It was well built and
hidden. I could see into it, and found it contained three eggs. The female
would come and go, but mostly she was on the nest with the eggs. So I have
been keeping an eye on the whole process. I went to bed last night, woke up
and the eggs are gone. The female is gone also. Dose not look like the nest
was messed with. I looked outside on the ground for any sign of the eggs,
nothing. What kind of animal could get the eggs so fast? And how could they
even know where they were?  I looked out about 6 hours before the eggs were
gone and female was on the nest just fine. If a critter was the get them my
four dogs would have gone crazy from the sound, they know when anything
gets close to the house day or night.  

Answer
Well, there are all sorts of possibilities. Jays, crows, rats, opossum, raccoon, cats, skunks, and who knows what else in your area. All these animals have their own way of finding out where a nest is - mostly by watching the female go to the nest. Roger Lederer at Ornithology.com