BIPitOP•

Hi everyone, posted from my phone so not sure it came out right. Hope this is the right subreddit.

My kids found this egg in our grass. Trying to figure out what it is. We are located in Northern Virginian.

3
TinyLongwingBiologist•

Chipping Sparrows in your area are nesting right now and have similar eggs, so that's potentially what this is. They're not a ground nesting bird, so probably this egg was taken by a predator from the nest, but dropped - maybe something like a crow that was being chased by the parents and gave up the food (and extra weight) to escape.

There's a good chance the egg is infertile now after this long without being incubated, if the mother had begun incubation (as eggs can actually go days without being incubated if they've just been laid - the mother lays one per day for a few days, then begins incubating them all at once when done). Not much to be done about that.

3
Alutnabutt•

That's my thought too. Had a nest with similar eggs last year, and they were extremely low to the ground.

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

0
BIPitOP•

It was in the middle of the yard and I moved it so it didn't get crushed. Did I mess it up?

1