Mating ringnecks form my.opera.com

Q: I only have one bird, a green cheeked conure. I woke up this morning and there was an egg in the cage. How is this possible? When will the egg hatch?

-Gary M., Ann Arbor, MI

A: The appearance of an egg can shock the owner of a single bird. And why wouldn’t it? We understand that babies are the result of male and female relations. They do not just appear. The confusion seems to come from the idea that an egg contains a baby bird. It ...

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A bird laying an egg is the most natural thing in the world.  Still, we humans always seem so surprised when it happens.

Egg production is not the result of mating, as many astonished single bird owners have discovered.  It is the breeding stimuli in the environment that causes a hen to generate an egg.  If you have only one bird, or are certain that your male and female are nothing more than good friends, the egg will be unviable.  Without fertilization, an egg will not produce a chick.  ...

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