Incubation questions

Mom and chicks -- 2003

courtesy http://www.palemale.com


Last Saturday was the first day Lola spent the night on the nest. People have been looking at photos on palemale.com and wondering if it's possible to tell if incubation has actually begun. Here's Blakeman's response:

Right now, there's no way of knowing for sure if there's an egg. The birds aren't fully hunkered down in brood-patch-on-eggs incubation yet. There may be an egg, but one or two others may be descending the fallopian tube, so real incubation hasn't really started.

I start counting incubation days when full, intense incubation starts, when the female sits very low in the nest.

An egg can be laid and left un-incubated at refrigerator temperatures without harm. Incubation doesn't really start until the brood patch is physically in touch with the eggs and that won't happen until the last egg is laid.

So, we must just wait patiently.

Sincerely,