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Name: Bettina
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
I have found a bird egg. I'm pretty sure it's a morning dove egg. I would like to know how to hatch it and how long it takes.


Replies:
Unfortunately, for you, it is not legal to keep or hatch wild bird eggs no matter how good your intentions. The reason is to protect birds from people who would rob the nests to get the eggs, or attempt to catch wild birds and keep them as pets. As for the egg you have, if it has been out of the nest for more than a day it is probably not viable any more, in other words it would not hatch anyway. If you did manage to hatch it it would be very difficult to feed the baby bird and keep it alive. Whenever you find a nest, leave it alone, and if you find an egg you can try to put it back in the nest if you know for sure it is the right nest, or also just leave it alone. Mourning dove eggs take about 2 weeks to hatch when incubated by the parent birds.

J. Elliott


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