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Name: Diana
Location: N/A
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Question:
My husband & I have 2 questions: We have a pair of mourning doves who have nested in a flower box on our porch. At first there were 2 eggs guarded by the mother until they hatched. However within a few days of hatching they were gone? 1.) Did something get them? Or could they have flown away so soon?


Replies:
There is no way of telling, however, a few days is too soon for chicks to become fledgings and leave the nest.

Then she laid one more egg, this one bigger, about 5 days ago. She has not been sitting on the nest at all.

2.) Is the egg dead?

Probably.

Should we put a light on it?

Why? If you touch it and it is being cared for, the female will cease that care.

First of all, let nature take its course. The larger egg may not be hers. If it is not the same size, it is definitely not a Mourning Dove. I have no idea where you live, but if you have Cowbirds, this sounds like their doing. They always lay their eggs in other bird's nests and never raise their own young.

Steve Sample.


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