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Birding/Mourning Dove in San Diego

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Expert: - 4/14/2009


Question
A mourning dove made her nest on my potting table.  I saw only one egg and the two adults (intermittent) for a two week period.  The egg hatched and a beautiful hatchling.  Now I see another egg (maybe I missed this one initially).  This second egg has not hatched.  I guess the baby chick  will soon leave because there is a lot of movement of spreading and cleaning his wings.  Is the second egg a new one?  if not, why did it not hatch?

Answer
Mourning Doves typically lay only two eggs. They are laid a day apart and thus should hatch within a day of each other. It's possible but unlikely that it is a new egg, so I presume you just missed seeing the second egg when you looked. Why did it not hatch? I can't tell you for sure. Could be infertile, could have developed abnormally, could have been cracked by the parents, or punctured by a predator, or?

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Roger Lederer

Expertise

Any and all about WILD birds - the science of ornithology. Information about birdwatching, ecology, conservation, migration, behavior, banding, rehabilitation, feeding, songs, binoculars, identification, and careers in ornithology. No questions about pet or caged birds, please.

Experience

Have a PhD and over forty years as a professional ornithologist - research, teaching, author, speaker, webmaster of Ornithology.com . Have written thirty scientific papers, three bird field guides, a textbook in ecology and two recent books entitled "Amazing Birds" and "Birds of New England". Have traveled to over 90 countries watching birds.

Education/Credentials
PhD in Zoology/Ornithology; Emeritus Professor of Biological Sciences; former Dean of the College of Natural Sciences at California State University, Chico

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