We are new landlords and have 2 nests on each side of our 12 compartment house. With the last batch of stormy weather the house now has a very slight tilt. It looks like this tilt may have caused 2 eggs to roll out onto the porch. We returned the eggs a few days ago and noticed an egg is out on the porch again last evening. Should we keep putting the egg back? We are not sure which nest it belongs to. Could we have put it in the wrong nest and the martin rejected it? We just are not sure what to do.
On another note, we will be fixing the slight "tilt" later after they finishing nesting. The pole is buried quite deep in the ground with cement and we don't think we could fix it while the birds are nesting.
OK to replace eggs to the nest?
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John Miller
- Posts: 4866
- Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:11 pm
- Location: St. Louis, MO
Welcome to the Forum.
Its fine to put the egg back. It may or may not be viable, but I doubt the martins tossed it out this early. They do sometimes push out old eggs, usually after others have hatched. If it's yellowish or discolored, just discard it.
You could try adding some nesting material to the front of the nest to hold the eggs in better -- just flaten it down some so you don't block the entry. Use dry white pine needles, straw or even coarse dry grass -- not much, just enough to level up the front a bit.
John Miller,
St. Louis
Its fine to put the egg back. It may or may not be viable, but I doubt the martins tossed it out this early. They do sometimes push out old eggs, usually after others have hatched. If it's yellowish or discolored, just discard it.
You could try adding some nesting material to the front of the nest to hold the eggs in better -- just flaten it down some so you don't block the entry. Use dry white pine needles, straw or even coarse dry grass -- not much, just enough to level up the front a bit.
John Miller,
St. Louis
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Donna - TX
- Posts: 889
- Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2006 6:44 pm
- Location: Texas/Pearland
Fisrt of all Congratulations on your first Martins.
It is very important to do nest checks. The martins don't mind.
If you don't have porch dividers the babies will wonder in the other nest and maybe still food from smaller ones. If a bird falls out of the nest you won't know which nest he goes back in. You also won't know when they are suppose to fledge. There are many reasons I can give you to do nest checks including parasites, dead babies, etc. That's why it is very important to do nest checks for the safety of the martins. Read all you can on this, the archives on this forum are very informative. Also do what John said to do.
It will give you piece of mind if you know they are o.k. and the martins will keep coming back to you if you take care of them.
It is very important to do nest checks. The martins don't mind.
If you don't have porch dividers the babies will wonder in the other nest and maybe still food from smaller ones. If a bird falls out of the nest you won't know which nest he goes back in. You also won't know when they are suppose to fledge. There are many reasons I can give you to do nest checks including parasites, dead babies, etc. That's why it is very important to do nest checks for the safety of the martins. Read all you can on this, the archives on this forum are very informative. Also do what John said to do.
It will give you piece of mind if you know they are o.k. and the martins will keep coming back to you if you take care of them.
Donna Gillbee
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Guest
Thanks so much for the information....appreciate all the expert help. We won't be so timid about lowering our house and checking the nests every few days. Good to know we can put eggs back.
We sure enjoy these beautiful birds.
We sure enjoy these beautiful birds.