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Birding/Birds Nest in my Hanging Basket

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Expert: - 6/3/2009


Question

Birdts Nest with Eggs
Hi - I have 3 hanging baskets on my covered front porch in Colorado.  We recently had several storms move through and I took down 1 hanging basket due to the wind and placed it maybe 5 feet away on a table to protect it.  It's been a couple days and this morning I went to re-hang the basket and noticed a lovely nest with 6 eggs in it.  I re-hung the basket, but I am concerned that the eggs have been abandoned since the nest was moved (wish I had seen the nest earlier!).  Do you think there is a chance the mom bird will return? I've attached a picture.

Answer
If it has been a couple of days, I doubt if the bird will return. Moving a nest often results in abandonment. Sometimes, if only one or two eggs have been laid, the mother bird will return to lay the rest, but I suspect this is a full clutch and incubation had begun. There is a chance she might return, but if she doesn't in a few more days, she won't at all.

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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