stay off her eggs? I've noticed today my female in the nest cam has been off her eggs since 1 this afternoon! No one has been there. We went out and put crickets in the nests, hopefully I'm not too late :( I have a few out there on the gourds now but most are still away. While we were checking the gourds I noticed an egg on the ground. One other egg was pecked! I haven't seen any sparrows hanging around and think, maybe, that it could of been from all the strange martins coming in last night trying to find a warm nest. Must of been over 50 hanging around. Our nest cam ended up with an extra bird for the night also! Poor things.
So things aren't looking great around here right now. I was curious as to how long the eggs can stay unattended and still survive?
Thanks.
How long should the female...
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Mary Dawnsong
- Posts: 1685
- Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2003 8:17 pm
- Location: Michigan, Livingston County
Hi Pen,
Please don't worry about the clutch.
In spells of bad weather like we are experiencing it is common for martins to stop incubating eggs.
It is a survival mechanism, obviously, the female must choose to save herself rather than incubate.
There are three possible outcomes: 1) delayed incubation, 2) renesting, 3) site abandonment.
These birds have flown all the way from Brazil to raise a family, so delayed incubation or renesting are likely outcomes assuming the birds remain strong enough to resume breeding activities.
In 2001, my colony experienced three weeks of very cold, wet weather starting in mid-May after egg-laying had begun.
8 clutches survived the cold spell, but hatched after longer than normal incubation - an extra 3-9 days!
6 pairs that had eggs before the cold spell relaid, most without removing the old clutch. One nest had 12 eggs - 3 eventually hatched!
Good luck to you and your birds,
Mary
Please don't worry about the clutch.
In spells of bad weather like we are experiencing it is common for martins to stop incubating eggs.
It is a survival mechanism, obviously, the female must choose to save herself rather than incubate.
There are three possible outcomes: 1) delayed incubation, 2) renesting, 3) site abandonment.
These birds have flown all the way from Brazil to raise a family, so delayed incubation or renesting are likely outcomes assuming the birds remain strong enough to resume breeding activities.
In 2001, my colony experienced three weeks of very cold, wet weather starting in mid-May after egg-laying had begun.
8 clutches survived the cold spell, but hatched after longer than normal incubation - an extra 3-9 days!
6 pairs that had eggs before the cold spell relaid, most without removing the old clutch. One nest had 12 eggs - 3 eventually hatched!
Good luck to you and your birds,
Mary
Last edited by Mary Dawnsong on Mon May 15, 2006 5:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Click here to see my colony
"In Michigan every martin matters"
"In Michigan every martin matters"
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John Miller
- Posts: 4866
- Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:11 pm
- Location: St. Louis, MO
Hey Pen
I just returned from loading up porches and some compartments on our housing at Forest Park, St. Louis, with my last stash of crickets. Did not see a single martin at three sites, and one house is full of eggs. I hope they are out feeding as it's 59 degrees and only light wind, cloudy.
I'll go back in a couple of hours to see if martins come in this evening to find the crickets. These are tough birds, but this marginal weather drags on.
I've read in the archives that incubation is sometimes delayed durnig inclement weather. I bet they could then stay off a day if incubation has not progressed much -- I hope so. Maybe someone here knows more.
John Miller
P.S. I see Mary's post above has our answers. Thanks Mary
I just returned from loading up porches and some compartments on our housing at Forest Park, St. Louis, with my last stash of crickets. Did not see a single martin at three sites, and one house is full of eggs. I hope they are out feeding as it's 59 degrees and only light wind, cloudy.
I'll go back in a couple of hours to see if martins come in this evening to find the crickets. These are tough birds, but this marginal weather drags on.
I've read in the archives that incubation is sometimes delayed durnig inclement weather. I bet they could then stay off a day if incubation has not progressed much -- I hope so. Maybe someone here knows more.
John Miller
P.S. I see Mary's post above has our answers. Thanks Mary
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Guest
Hi Mary,
Thanks for the comforting words. I'll be patient and let nature take it's course. It's so hard to watch though. My, how we get attached to these kids
Hi John,
I just saw my female come in, it's almost 6 PM. Not sure she noticed the crickets inside. I was wondering though...if they don't eat the crickets do you think they will just leave them to rot or throw them outside?
Good luck also with your colonies. One more day and it's looks like we'll be in the clear for awhile.
Thanks for the comforting words. I'll be patient and let nature take it's course. It's so hard to watch though. My, how we get attached to these kids
Hi John,
I just saw my female come in, it's almost 6 PM. Not sure she noticed the crickets inside. I was wondering though...if they don't eat the crickets do you think they will just leave them to rot or throw them outside?
Good luck also with your colonies. One more day and it's looks like we'll be in the clear for awhile.