Bird's Nest in closed backyard grillw/5 eggs... too Hot????

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Please help me. I discovered a bird's nest in our barbeque grill (large gas style). The next day to our surprise we discovered two eggs. They are light blue. The 4th day two more eggs were deposited. The following day there were a total of five eggs. I am not a bird person. I know nothing. The bird has been getting in and out through the grill cut out as the grill has been closed, which is about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. It has been very warm here 89-93 during the days. I thought it might help to open the grill to let more air circulate for a time every afternoon, so I have been doing this. (It is on our deck and the afternoons have been scorching. I know the concern is about animals that might disturb the nest and harm the eggs. If anyone can help, let me know. Thanks. I understand that the eggs have approximately one week or so to go before hatching. Thanks again.

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Robin's eggs are blue, but robins are not cavity nesters.

Can you provide any shade for the grill? An improvised awning of some sort?

I'm guessing that you will not be hosting the family cookout on Memorial Day?

Good luck--and welcome to A2K.

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You could throw a white towel over it, so the heat isn't absorbed as much. Smile

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You want to avoid changing the landscape too much--you might frighten off the parents of the eggs.

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If the parents wanted a cooler spot to lay their eggs they would have found one. Wink

Leave the grill cover closed and let nature take it's course. Typcial incubators for chicken eggs run at 100 degrees. If you are opening the grill cover to cool things you force the parents to sit on the eggs more to warm them (instead of spending their time seeking food!) and the temp shifts delay chick development.

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Fishin'--

I'm not sure that birds reason ahead. What might have been toasty-cozy in early May could now be KFC weather inside the grill.

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Yeah, I seem to have a large population of avian dolts in my yard. Every nest I've seen has had problems, and while I've taken it personally, I do think that they deserve a little of the blame.

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Noddy24 wrote:

I'm not sure that birds reason ahead. What might have been toasty-cozy in early May could now be KFC weather inside the grill.

I dunno. There seem to be an awful lot of birds around so they must plan well enough! lol But I don't think trying to 2nd guess their choices is a good idea in general. I understand the motivations to want to help out but the odds are a lot better that we'll muck things up than end up doing anything beneficial.

I've got a nest full of chicks living in my bathroom wall at the moment. They're a little noisey but I'll let them be until they vacate the nest and then I'll rip the wall apart, clean things up and fix it so they can't move in again next year.

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The eggs were all gone this morning........ I don't know what happened to them. We had a terrible rain storm last night, but the grill was closed before it began and the eggs were fine at that time. I am mourning their passing. Thank you everyone for your assistance. I guess this is the end.

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Aw, I'm sorry. :-( I've been through this several times now and won't even look for 'em anymore because I get so upset, and the birds around here are evidently REALLY DUMB. (They survive somehow, as a species I mean, but I don't know how.) Someone told me that if the eggs are destroyed, the birds just lay another batch.

Good for you for trying your best. Hopefully those dumb boids learned their lesson, and won't repeat the mistake.

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How could the eggs possibly be gone if the grill was closed? No shell fragments?

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Could be a snake. That was the verdict on one of my disappearing nests. :-(

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There were no shell fragments at all. Confused

I even touched the nest for the first time looking for the eggs. I thought maybe the bird rearranged the nestand buried the eggs. But I was so saddened to find nothing at all. Crying or Very sad

I had taken pictures every day there were new eggs. We were so excited to be able to watch this unfolding drama right before our eyes. And we were looking forward to watching them hatch. The bird has returned to the nest several times this morning and seems to be as shocked as we are. Shocked

I'd share the pictures with you but I don't have access to uploading them to the net. (still learning these finer points.)

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Bolton, you can upload pics over here:

http://www.able2know.com/gallery/

I know, I went through exactly the same thing. Sigh.

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Did your parent birds have very short tails?

Check out:

http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/common_starling.htm

Back in the 19th century some damn fool decided to stock Central Park, NYC with mating pairs of all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare.

The imported starlings thrived, frequently driving out native birds from desirable nesting sites.

Serious birdwatchers have a low opinion of starlings--cheeky Cockney imports.

In the defense of starlings, in the fall you frequently see groups of starlings marching back and forth across suburban lawns gobbling down Japanese beetle larvae (a very undesirable import that has no "native" enemies in North America.

Even if the birds were starlings, they were your starlings. Nature red in tooth and claw is much redder on home turf.

Please accept my sympathies.

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Noddy24, yes, the bird(s) looked like these. They have very sharp beaks yes? Thanks for helping me understand what kind of birds these are. I'm still sad, but now I know who I'm sad for.
Thanks!

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