have among

[keannu]

1. This "have among" sounds awkward to me. Don't they usually say "have something among"?
2. This "spotting" is translated as "of small mark", but I think it is "easy to spot or notice", what do you think?

330-101
ex) ...They are male village weaverbirds, advertising their nest-building accomplishments to a nearby flock of females. The males do have something to boast about, as weavers are considered to be the most proficient nest builders in the bird world.
Once a female has chosen a nest, she lays eggs of nearly identical appearance throughout her lifetime, but the eggs of the population as a whole have among the widest variety of colors and spotting patterns of any bird.
For most people who live with the village weaver, however, appreciating its nest-building and egg artistry can be difficult...

 

[Rover_KE]

1. The eggs have not the widest variety of colours but they are among (part of) that group of birds which lay differently-coloured eggs.

2. The eggs are mottled — like these.

Rover

 

[keannu]

1. "have" seems to be redundant and useless, why is it there? Isn't "The eggs are among.." better to understand?

 

[Rover_KE]

No.

'The eggs have a wide variety of colours' — not 'the eggs are. . . colours'.

Rover

 

[keannu]

You said "a wide variety of colors" doesn't belong to the eggs, but to the group of birds. I'm sorry I'm confused.

 

[Rover_KE]

You asked if you could replace have with are.

I said no because the eggs have colours, not the eggs are colours.