[princess becky]

:confused: - I found a robins egg , next to it's nest , not far from the ground, should I put it back in with the other egg? My daughter already held it though, will the mom reject it because of our human scent? What do I do with this egg?? HELP!

[RickJ]

Don't put it back in the nest. Yes, the odor of human on it may turn the mother away from it... and maybe even the nest and other egg.

[tomder55]

I don't think you should put it back. Maybe it got damaged in the fall. Maybe the mom knocked it out of the nest because it wasn't viable or maybe the wind got it . Either way ;you risk contaminating the nest because a damaged egg eventually rots and attracts insects.

[mrssittingduck]

Human odour plays no part in nests what so ever, it is common myth, common birds have very very little sense of smell and those that do only have it for reasons such as finding the right plant, they would not be able to smell human scents as a lot of people seem to think ,

However on the side of damage, this may be a big possibility, even though an egg looks good to the naked eye, it doesn't mean its not cracked, if you take the egg to a dark place and shine a torch through it any cracks would be apparent easily,

However the egg could have been partially sat on and a chick already developed and died due to chills, these eggs can be good in a nest as it helps to trap heat when sat on and when chicks hatch they use them to keep warm,. as long as there are no cracks!!

If the egg was thrown it was more likely thrown for a reason, are their chicks in the nest? If there are chances are the egg was thrown because it was no good, or however it could be accidental,

The risks now are high if it was placed in that it would spread bacterial problems through any eggs or chicks, so no I wouldn't put it back in now,.