I just thought I would point out that Laura said that the robin essentially laid the egg, but not in a nest. Unless I misunderstood her. So I think we can rule out parasite disposal here. Jon Cefus Sent from my iPhone > On Apr 18, 2015, at 7:50 PM, Craig <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > Perhaps mama robin recognized the egg as not of her own, like a cowbird egg. Good robin, smart robin. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Laura Dornan" <[log in to unmask]> > To: <[log in to unmask]> > Sent: Saturday, April 18, 2015 1:43 PM > Subject: [Ohio-birds] robin dumping egg > > > While birding the woodland trail behind my house this morning, I observed something I have never seen or heard of before. Â A female robing flew to a tree about 30 feet from me and perched about on a branch about 5-6 feet above the ground. Â She was facing away from me and I saw her raise her drop an egg which landed on the ground below. Â There was no nest anywhere around that I could see. Â After she flew off I walked over to confirm what I thought I saw and there was a broken robin egg under the branch. Â A male robin then flew to the same tree. Â > Has anyone else seen a bird just "lay" an egg where it would drop to the ground or have any thoughts on why a bird would do this. Â The only thing I can think of is that the nest was destroyed and when a bird has to lay an egg, she has to lay it NOW, nest or no nest. Â But there have been no storms in which a nest might be destroyed for over a week---plenty of time to rebuild. > Laura DornanLouisville > > ______________________________________________________________________ > > Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. > Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. > Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. > > > You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: > listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS > Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] > > ______________________________________________________________________ > > Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. > Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. > Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. > > > You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: > listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS > Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] > > > > > > > > ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]