Hello I have a blackbird that has nested in my greenhouse she built her nest in this last week i was delighted now today is Sunday & she has laid her first egg she has been in & out on & off the nest all day ,but its now 9pm & she is no on her nest ,but i know she will be there in the morning back on the nest again ,but i am worried as it it cold over night will the egg survive & will she lay more eggs tomorrow .
And once eggs have been laid do the birds sit on the nest continuously until the eggs hatch?
Hi tippy
Richard Burton in Garden Brid Behaviour says
"Of common birds only owls, birds of prey, herons and gulls start incubation with the first egg", "most common birds do not start to incubate until all the eggs have been laid" "Incubation of the entire clutch starts at the same time so the eggs hatch more or less simultaneously and the fledglings leave the nest more or less together"
From the rest of wht he says I gather that most birds go for numbers so that some survive whereas the ones who incubate from the start go for the survival of the fittest when food is short.
I don't wish to be rude but how close to the nest did you go to see that there was an egg in it? you may have disturbed her BUT I do know that you can get nestcams so please do not think I am being rude. Again most common birds lay one egg a day until the clutch is complete according to the book I quoted above.
I'm a newbie as you can tell cos I've got books to quote from!!!
Hope this helps
Lyndsey
I didn't get to be stupid by being blonde, I was stupid enough to pay to be blonde!!!
The blackbird will not sit on that nest untill all eggs are layed which will likey be in 4 days time... she will sleep nearby at night... once the full lot of eggs are layed she will then start incubating the eggs will be perfectly alright during this time .. apart from the rats if any get into your greenhouse.......
The blackbird once the eggs are layed will sit on the eggs day and night for periods of hours, this will be broken only to feed and water.. before the hen bird will return to the job of incubateing.......
Do not go to close or touch the eggs at all............ you may need to stop using the greenhouse until the babies as flown.......
enjoy the sights as it not often that this happens, i had robins nesting in a plant pot last year in my shed
dont just look enjoy and leave for others to share after you. we dont own the earth we just rent a small part of it....
Lyndseypops said: Hi tippy Richard Burton in Garden Brid Behaviour says "Of common birds only owls, birds of prey, herons and gulls start incubation with the first egg", "most common birds do not start to incubate until all the eggs have been laid" "Incubation of the entire clutch starts at the same time so the eggs hatch more or less simultaneously and the fledglings leave the nest more or less together" From the rest of wht he says I gather that most birds go for numbers so that some survive whereas the ones who incubate from the start go for the survival of the fittest when food is short. I don't wish to be rude but how close to the nest did you go to see that there was an egg in it? you may have disturbed her BUT I do know that you can get nestcams so please do not think I am being rude. Again most common birds lay one egg a day until the clutch is complete according to the book I quoted above. I'm a newbie as you can tell cos I've got books to quote from!!! Hope this helps Lyndsey
hello Lyndsey
thank you for your reply i feel not as worried now hopefully she will go on to produce a nice clutch & then fledglings & just to put your mind at rest as she chose to nest I'm my greenhouse with all my newly potted plants ( little madam ) I am very very careful not to go in there when she is in there as I don't want to upset or disturb her & if i do have to go in then she is there i do not make eye contact as not to pose a threat to her & then i watch her from a distance to make sure that i did not disturb her & she carries on as normal afterwards also the nest is eye line & she was nowhere around at the time i notice the egg hope this settle your mind .Once again thank you for your help.
thank you so much for your reply i promise to remove the remaining items that i need out of the greenhouse as not to disturb her i feel very privileged that she is is my greenhouse .
Thanks for your thanks tippy alhough kestrel sounds more experienced than me and knows from experience!!!
I had a robin investigate my summerhouse a couple of weeks ago which I use an awful lot in the summer and less in the winter (also known as the smoking shack)!!! sorry to all you non-smokers. Was worried that it would take to nesting there so I started to close it up properly so it didn't nest in there :- a) its carpeted and furnished and heated (well its cold in winter and I don't smoke indoors) but more importantly b) I didn't want to distrub any nesting attempts!!!
Thank you for taking what I said in the spirit in which it was meant.