Can canaries count?

[kcfd55]

The first set of babies for my Timbrado canaries started with 5 eggs. The cup that the parents nested in was pretty small, and the two babies that successfully hatched are almost filling the nest. I didn't see any babies ejected, but did see egg shells under the nest, so I'm wondering if the adults can see that there isn't enough room for five, and got rid of the rest?

Their heads don't look like they have enough brains for that .

Thanks,

Mike

[Rob]

From what I understand this is a common problem. Most breeders will remove the eggs each day, and add them back around day 5 so that they all hatch at the same time. The parents will ignore the smaller ones, or unhatched ones, in favor of the first borns.