How Long Does It Take For Bird Eggs To Hatch? Fun Facts For Kids

Birds are undoubtedly the most unique aspect of this planet, they possess wings and have the ability to fly unlike most of the other Earthly creatures.

Humans have been in awe of this feature of birds and it is common for us to be interested more and more about the lives of birds and one important part of that is their initial growth stage or when they are inside their eggs.

Doesn't it seem wild that irrespective of the size of the bird, whether it is one of the larger birds or an adult bird which seems like a baby bird such as the woodpecker but at one point all of them were inside eggs?

Now there are a large number of bird species on Earth which leads to variation in the way birds hatch especially in the duration it takes for the eggs to hatch.

Along with the duration, the size and color of the bird egg also depend upon the bird species.

If you look at the egg of an ostrich, it looks enormous in front of the egg of a sparrow. But one thing that remains constant is the function of the mother bird, it stays at the nesting site protecting the eggs and it is the father bird who goes looking for the food.

The mother bird in most of the species performs the function of incubation, it is essential to start incubating the eggs to keep them warm, healthy and help them hatch timely.

In certain species, both the parents share the incubation period but either one of them is always present in the nest taking care of the eggs.

If you like reading this article, please look into other articles from Kidadl such as do mammals lay eggs and do male cats spray after being neutered.

The Average Time It Takes For Bird Eggs To Hatch

All the adult birds that we see around us today were once baby birds and prior to that embryos were within an egg.

After the female birds lay eggs, it is followed by the incubation period which again depends upon the species of the bird. During the incubation period, the parents and in most birds only the mother provide heat to the egg by exposing the skin of its abdomen.

A birds' egg incubation is a very important stage, if the temperature is too high or too low, it can affect the development of the bird egg and the time taken by it to hatch.

Now the eggs of different species hatch at different durations but generally, it takes from 10 - 30 days for bird eggs to hatch.

If we divide the bird species on the basis of their body size, we can get a more exact reading.

For small birds, the eggs hatch around 10 - 14 days after the birds lay eggs, their incubation period is relatively short as the size of the egg is significantly smaller. On the other hand, larger birds usually take around 20 - 30 days for their eggs to get hatched.

Once the bird egg hatches, the babies enter a period which is known as the fledgling stage and can be described as a period when the bird is in a vulnerable stage of its life.

This is the period between the birds hatching from the egg and then growing to become able to fly.

As an interesting fact about the time taken by a bird egg to hatch, the Zosterops take the least amount of time to hatch from their eggs, only around 9 - 10 days.

For instance, the eggs that European starlings lay take around 12 days to hatch.

Interestingly, the male constructs half of the nest and then sings to draw attention from a potential mate, when a female responds to its call, she joins the mail singer and the female builds the rest of the nest then.

The pileated woodpecker is a unique species, the bird will drill directly into a tree to build its nest and will then have exactly one brood per season.

The pileated woodpecker lays around three to five eggs at a time which take around 18 days to hatch and is plain white in color.

On the other hand, the Canada Geese lay around two to eight eggs every time which are creamy white in appearance and take a long incubation period of 28 days.

How long does it take for a parrot egg to hatch?

During bird watching, it is common for an ornithologist to get its eyes fixed upon a parrot and they have a proper reason to do so.

A parrot can easily be distinguished among many birds owing to its colorful feathers and unique body shape, size. Now there are many species of birds that are kept as pets by people and the parrot is near the top of that list.

It is possible that you might someday have a chance to see your parrot lay legs and give birth to more such beautiful birds.

There are a wide variety of parrots that exist in the world, unsurprisingly the incubation period varies with the species.

As a fact, some parrot species take only 18 days to get their eggs hatched whereas some might take as long as 28 days but the average duration is from 24 - 28 days. Some of the conditions to be concerned about during the incubation period include the humidity and most importantly the temperature.

The temperature directly refers to the heat levels around the egg, it is important that the egg receives an adequate amount of heat but at the same time make sure that it isn't overheated else it can lead to death.

This is a reason why birds cannot provide excess heat during incubation irrespective of how hard they try.

On the contrary, if the egg is left unattended for long periods it can suffer some great damage.

As a general rule, the ideal temperature for parrot eggs has been recorded at around 99 F (37.2 C). Just like temperature, there is an ideal range for humidity as well, it has been recorded that the 38-52 % range is the best for all kinds of birds.

Ideal humid conditions also help in maintaining the heat levels and parallelly assist the egg to go some much-needed weight reduction as well.

How long does it take for finch bird eggs to hatch?

Finch or the House Finch is found all over North America, it is a native bird of Southwest America but have now reached all the way to the East. Finches are commonly seen in areas that have a lawn or in the farmlands or in the suburbs of a city.

In the recent past, there has been a dip in the population of finches owing to the bacterial infection called conjunctivitis which affects the eye of the bird and then hampers their feeding ability.

Finches brood multiple times in a year, usually around three times a year and sometimes even more. When finches lay eggs the average range is from two to six eggs but the more exact number is four to five eggs every time it lays eggs.

Like several other bird species, in the finches too who undertake the job of incubation in the nest, it takes a few weeks till the babies are ready to hatch, more specifically 13-14 days.

Although it is only the female bird that incubates the eggs, the process of feeding is undertaken by both the parents.

Once the hatchlings come out of their shells, they stay in the nest for about 12-15 days after which they look to leave the nest and fly. During these 12-15 days, it is the parents of the hatchlings that feed them.

How long does it take for sparrow bird eggs to hatch?

Sparrows are young birds, they raise at times four broods per season and at a minimum two broods per season and never just one brood. This bird is commonly found in North America especially in suburban and agricultural areas.

Like many other birds, the sparrow too has a busy time of the year from April to August, it is the time when the sparrows begin to mate.

The prime mating season of the sparrows begins with nesting from the month of April.

As a unique characteristic of these birds, they build several nests in order to protect their nests from potential predators from stealing their eggs. Every time the female bird lays eggs there are at least two eggs and at most five on average but never only one egg.

The eggs usually take up to two weeks to hatch, a general period is of 10-17 days.

Talking about the size of the sparrow, they are very small birds which also affects the amount of time the hatchlings take to come out of their shells and develop.

It has been noted that sparrows take around 7-10 days after coming out of the egg in fledgling.

Once these babies are at least two weeks old, they are somewhat able to fly but it is their parents who bring them food and feed them, in the nest till the sparrows are at least five weeks old.

After around four to five weeks' time, the sparrow is no longer dependent on the mother and father and is capable enough to look for food on its own.

These four to five weeks that the sparrow mothers spend nurturing their young ones is worth investing in as it allows the small feathers of the birds to develop.

How long does it take for robin eggs to hatch?

Robin is one of the most common backyard birds, you can find the nest of a robin in a gutter or even in the eaves but the most common spot is on the lower part of a tree. Some of the common materials that birds use generally in building their nests include dead leaves, spider silk, thistle, grass.

The most unique feature about Robins is they lay eggs early in the morning after consuming earthworms and they lay exactly one egg, the same amount every time.

This is because robins gain a lot of calories from eating earthworms which they require in laying eggs now the robins cannot see when it is dark and earthworms hide when the sun's out.

So the first thing in the morning that robins do is to wake up and eat earthworms, this helps the bird to lay eggs in her nest later on in the day.

On average, robin eggs take around 14 days to hatch and the mother bird sits on the eggs almost the entire time.

It has been noted that out of every hour, the mother robin sits on her eggs for 50 minutes, she alone performs the job of incubation as the male doesn't have a brood patch that is required to incubate the eggs.

But it is the male's job to protect the eggs and the nests in general from any predators such as the cat. Additionally, robins have one of the most beautiful eggs too, they are bright blue in color.

Once the eggs hatch, both the parents take care of the hatchlings equally, the baby robins tend to leave the nest after around a couple of weeks.

During this time, it is the mother and the father robin that bring food to the newborn.

Moreover, if you ever see a bird's nest which was previously on a raised ground and has now fallen to a lower level or any other scenario, do not touch the eggs.

Birds often discard the eggs which are touched by any other creature, it is best to protect the eggs and the nest as they are from any predator and wait for the parent bird to arrive.