Expert: Julia Booth - 4/23/2009

Question
my neighbor and i found a nest with 4 robin eggs in it. it has been about a week since the mother abandoned the nest, i have the eggs under a heat lamp hoping its not too late. my question is, how long would the eggs survive without mom? are we too late to save them?

Answer
Eggs being truly abandoned and forgotten by a bird is very rare. It's twice as rare with Robins, since both parents participate in the nesting process. That means that both mom and dad met foul play, and were unable to return to the nest. Not impossible, I'm sure. Just highly unlikely. Not that I doubt your observational skills. But unless you've been keeping 24 hour watch over the eggs in question, you don't really know if mom or dad have been back to tend to them. Remember that regardless of your good intentions, and I'm sure they are pure, the best chance those eggs have for survival is with their biological parents.

Chances of the eggs being viable, if they were indeed left unattended for four days, is next to nothing. It's slightly better if you live in a warm climate.

There is a process called candling you can try that might help you figure out whether the eggs are good. It's not 100% accurate. But it generally works for poultry and domestic fowl. Be very careful when handling the eggs.

http://shilala.homestead.com/candling.html

If by some chance the eggs are viable, here are instructions for caring for eggs and baby birds, once they hatch. Individual species have very specific dietary needs. Robins feed mostly on worms, tiny insects, berries and small seeds. These items will need special preparation in order to be digestable by the young. You should find instructions for that at this link. If you need more info, let me know.

http://aviary.owls.com/baby_bird.html

Good luck,


Julia