A bird laid eggs in a flower pot and has not returned in 3 days. Is there anything we can do to save the eggs?

7 responses so far ↓

• 1 Tony // Jul 13, 2008

  No,,,she was probably scared off and went and laid some where else..Are you sure it hasn`t came back?

• 2 Lucy // Jul 13, 2008

  I would leave them alone we just had the same exact thing happen earlier this summer. The bird laid the eggs in a flower box we didn't know if the bird would come back and she did. She didn't really sit on the eggs that much after she had just laid them it was when the birds started hatching that she stayed on them and near the nest..

• 3 coyotehunteraz // Jul 13, 2008

  might not even be fertile, candle the egg by holding it up next to a light in a dark room, if there are veins it is fertile, if not it was just dropping eggs. eggs are tough to hatch

• 4 Natalie N // Jul 13, 2008

  The bird is probably out looking for food. They may have been killed while doing so. Or, they may be taking a long time.

  Leave the eggs where they are, because the bird will most likely come back. But you need to keep them safe and warm, so try to cover the eggs with a lot of grass and leaves.
  Continue to watch the eggs and if the bird does not return after they hatch, then you may want to take care of them yourself or call a wildlife agency to take them away.
  You don't want those little things to die!
  Just be very careful and gentle, this is mother nature.

• 5 Lisa J // Jul 13, 2008

  Don't touch the eggs.

  Sometimes birds don't sit on eggs until they lay all of the eggs so that the chicks hatch at the same time…

  And even if the female bird does not come back, its not a good idea to save the eggs. You are going to need an incubator, and then educate yourself on how to raise these chicks when they do hatch, which you probably don't know the species… or you could call a wildlife agency, a pet shop won't take them because they're wild animals…

  It's too much of a hassle. There was a reason why the female bird left those eggs there and your only true option is to leave them there. But if you are really worried, you can do what I said.

• 6 birdgirl // Jul 13, 2008

  Leave them alone..birds do not start to incubate (sit) on the eggs until ALL of them are laid…she could still be in the laying process. Once they are all laid she will start to sit, but she will take breaks throughout the day to forage and feed..so just because you do not see her there when you look does not mean she has abandoned the nest. If you are continually getting close to the nest, this will keep her from coming. She also may be leaving the nest before you approach. Just let it be..this nest could still be active. If it is truly abandoned..then the eggs are dead and there is nothing you can do to help.

• 7 pittisng // Jul 13, 2008

  If she hasn't been setting on them, candling them will do no good as they won't have begun to develop. Unless you want to go out to buy an incubator and do the research to get the temp right, then it's best to just leave them be.