Help!!!

[derek71]

While adjusting the height of my shed,all blue tit flew out of my nesting box..i looked in and there is 6 eggs the bird hasnt been back in the last 2 hours!! will the eggs be ok?? any info please as i would hate to thing i have affected the chances of the eggs hatching!!!!

[Elizabeth B]

It really depends on whether the bird has started incubating. We have a bluetit incubating twelve eggs, and she only goes out for short periods, but the bluetit in the other box is out a lot of the time, so we are assuming she hasn't finished laying yet. (We don't know how many eggs she has, as she keeps them well hidden from us).

Six is quite a small number of eggs for a bluetit, though not unknown - let's just hope your bird has yet to finish her clutch.

On the Overview page of our website, you can see how many eggs our birds (blue and great tits) have laid since we started watching in 2001.

[Pippa]

Hi Derek,

If you have spooked her good and proper she may abandon the nest and not return.Hopefully,if you can now stay clear she may come back and finish laying.Fingers crossed she does that. It is all down to how upset she was at being disturbed.

[Lance Morgan]

She should return with that number of eggs. If you are regularly in the garden pottering about she will be used to you. As Pippa said just keep out the way for a bit. If not do not worry there is plenty of time yet for another clutch.

[Jenny W]

Blue Tits generally don't spook that easily - at least not as easily as either Great Tits or Coal Tits. As has been said, she probably hasn't finished laying her full clutch yet.

[Elizabeth B]

Originally Posted by Elizabeth B

................but the bluetit in the other box is out a lot of the time, so we are assuming she hasn't finished laying yet. (We don't know how many eggs she has, as she keeps them well hidden from us). ........................................

Fay has at last allowed us to see her eggs - but if she's laid one each day since she started, there should be 10 eggs by now.



We're not even sure that we've seen her partner - so we're wondering how things will turn out.

[wild sam]

i once looked into a bush and thers was about 5 robin eggs unfortunetly i think the robin might of abandoned them because i looked in again a about 2 weeks later and they were gone i think a magpie had them

[NickCantle]

Originally Posted by wild sam

i once looked into a bush and thers was about 5 robin eggs unfortunetly i think the robin might of abandoned them because i looked in again a about 2 weeks later and they were gone i think a magpie had them

They may have hatched?

[Elizabeth B]

Originally Posted by NickCantle

They may have hatched?

Rather unlikely - after hatching, the young stay in the nest for 12-15 days.

[derek71]

Thanks for the replys...she returned 8 hours later!!! was so happy as i thought i had spooked her....just a question how long can the eggs survive without the mum on them???? looking forward to my new arrivals!!!