Expert: Roger Lederer - 7/2/2007

Question
QUESTION: Hi,

We has a robin make a nest in a high traffic area of our deck. My husband took the nest down in hope the robin would make a nest elsewhere. Instead the robin laid an egg on the bare wood board above a door to the deck.  We took the nest from the garbage bag (it was clean and empty other than the nest) put it back in the same place. We gently placed the egg in the nest and have stopped the kids form using the deck.

Is there any hope for this egg?

ANSWER: It is very stressful to a bird to have its nest moved. It's very complicated, but hormones direct the sequence of breeding activity - egg laying follows nest building - and it's near impossible to go back to nest building after egg-laying starts. If there is only one egg- and she has not laid anymore- it will probably not hatch. Normally they lay four or 5 eggs. Thanks for your concern.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi,

After we put the nest back she came back and laid 2 more eggs - so 3 in eggs total. We try to give them as much space as possible. At first even standing inside the house at the sink or the kids in the next door back yard would spook them. Now the 2 of them seem to be settling in - no idea if the eggs will hatch - be we are hopeful.  

Last night they both seemed to be gone for the better part of an hour. We did not watch for the whole hour - we are always in and out but our kitchen window is in a direct path and we did not see her. Can they leave the nest that long and still have any hope of hatching the eggs?

Answer
Iif they haven't begun incubating, they can leave the eggs for a long time. (They can sit on the eggs without incubating them.) They might lay an egg or two more before they start incubating them. Once incubation starts, they can leave the eggs for perhaps an hour or more, depending on the outside temperature.