Expert: Roger Lederer - 5/24/2006

Question
Hello. Recently my family and I have gotten to know a male and female robin behind our house, have watched them build a georgeous nest, gather worms etc... 2 days ago... there was no sign of the female robin, and the male daddy-as the kids call him  my husband and I waited a full day but no sign of either of them (which was NOT normal at all).. then we saw a cat in behind our fence. Still no robins. My husband was fixing our fence and we decided we needed to see what was going on, unfortunately, we found our  mommy  lying on the ground (won t go into details).. still no sign of the male. Then the cat was circling the tree below, we jumped into action. Thinking he d already taken the nest, we looked. it was half out of the tree (I m guessing the cat)... but 5 beautiful blue eggs lay inside. We were worried that with the next wind all would be lost, so we decided to do what we could, now they re in their nest under a heating lamp, getting turned every few hours. Is it possible that any can be saved? Or are we just hoping for a miracle? I ve read the good and the bad points in this matter on different sites, but as a mother of 3 kids, I just had to try. If there s a chance, please advise me what signs to maybe look for as to the hatching date I m not sure at all. Thanks, Andrea

Answer
Let me say in the beginning that it is VERY difficult to raise wild birds from egg to adulthood. I would go to your nearest wildlife rehabilitator for advice. Check with wildlife officials in your area if you don't know of a wildlife center. Failing that you can go to www.ornithology.com/rehab.html for some links for advice. It takes about 2 weeks for the eggs to hatch, but don't be surprized if they don't. If the eggs were incubated at all and then not incubated for a day, they are probably dead. If they eggs were not incubated then maybe they might hatch. But again, it is really only a skilled rehabilitator who has a chance to save them, so I suggest you try that. In any case, good luck and I appreciate your concern. Roger Lederer at Ornithology.com