I had an interesting situation at our house. Bought a flower planter and left it on our front porch about chest high off the porch. I saw a bird's nest appear a couple weeks later but never saw a bird so I tossed the nest into the bushes to mulch. Then I saw the flowers were trampled and looked to see why and found 3 Robin's eggs in the flower bed. I used utensils to retrieve the nest from the bushes and carefully laid the 3 eggs into the nest. All the while the mama Robin was squawking at me. I checked and saw the bird returned to the nest and was doing some tidying up. Then low and behold she reclaimed the nest. Later that same day I saw 4 eggs as she apparently had one in reserve. She is nesting nicely now and we can't wait to see her little hatchlings come to life. I did handle the nest by hand at first when I tossed it but who knows if the bird cared. It makes sense that birds don't have a sense of smell.

They can but once the female starts incubating you don't see them very often. You may just be missing them. What you could do is very carefully take a sharpie and mark a small dot on one of the eggs and then check the next day to see if the mark has moved. The eggs are turned during incubation so the dot should not stay in the same place. Even if the dot doesn't move though give the eggs the proper 14+ days to hatch, so count from the day the last egg was laid and then at least 14 days from that date to decide if the eggs aren't viable anymore. I have had a male go missing when the female was incubating, he was gone for four days but she as still there. Good luck, hope you are just missing seeing them.

That happened to me for the last nesting of the season last year. My female built her second nest, layed two eggs and was never seen again. I left the eggs for 2 weeks but no change. The male would come several times a day checking on the nest and I could hear him singing all day. I finally removed nest and eggs and the male quit checking the box. I could hear him off in the distance singing and singing for a new mate but it was way too late in the nesting season. After several weeks I dind't hear him any more. Renee

Judy, I would observe the box for a couple hours at a time and make sure you know if anyone is showing up. Also, you can place an obstruction like a blade of grass in the hole, and if it's gone you may have activity. Make sure the wind can't also remove it. It's hard to say exactly what happened to the mother. Hawks, owls, pesticides, car accidents, etc. All possibilities. Unless you find a body, you might never know. I've had several parents go disappearing and I know the sad feeling and thought about what may have happened. I've lost several female bluebirds, and just this year, my first couple male bluebirds. It's a tough world they endure. If they're truly abandoned, try to find the number of a local wildlife rehabber and give them a call. You should look into this BEFORE an emergency occurs. Its good that you're feeding, but don't force feed them! ~Tim~ Here is a link that might be useful: Bluebird Widows, Widowers and Orphans