Why bluebird eggs dont hatch

Rest assured this is one of the reasons why birds lay so many eggs and can have multiple broods per year—they are compensating for the inevitable losses they will endure. Want to know who you might find living in your area? This article looks into it. After her incubation attempts the mother bird will either eat the egg as a source of protein, remove it from the nest, bury the eggs or in some cases, like in the case of the bluebird, it will build a new next over the old egg.

Occasionally, all the eggs in a clutch or a few of them fail to hatch. The mother bird does everything she should, sitting on them for the required number of days but still, no chicks emerge from the eggs.

The mother bird may have laid them without mating with a male, or the male bird she met with was infertile. Bluebirds, build a new nest on top of their nonviable eggs. The unhatched eggs of eagles get broken to pieces through constant activity in the nest. Other species of birds simply push the unhatched eggs out of the nest. You might have taken notice of a nest containing eggs somewhere in the woods or on your property.

Some birds like to lay all the eggs in a clutch before they start incubating. Three times the blue bird eggs have disappeared from the nest, one week from hatching. Could the eggs be infertile and mom is taking them out? Had infertile eggs before but were left in nest. If you do not have a baffle cone or stovepipe for example, this can allow climbers like raccoons and squirrels to access the box. In regards to infertile eggs, this is usually determined after the adult has been sitting on the eggs for awhile.

While some birds remove their eggs from their own nest for unknown reasons, one reason we do know of is when an egg is cracked — some birds will dispose of those eggs. Alternatively, some competitor birds will remove eggs if they want to use the box themselves, such as invasive House Sparrows , or the native House Wren wrens are more common if the box is located near shrubby habitat.

If you have more questions about this, please email us at nestwatch cornell. These comment sections are not monitored regularly. Hi I think I am having a un-fertilized problem too. Out of 5 eggs only 1 has hatched. The expected date was the I think the first hatch was the 21st.

Mom and dad are taking good care of the little one. You can learn more in this FAQ. If one baby is older and then bigger, it may take all the food from its siblings or may even kill its siblings. To avoid this, the female waits until she is done laying all the eggs. This is called synchrony.

The crow is an exception to this rule, as the female begins incubating as soon as she lays the first egg.