If you are a passionate birder, you should know that birds usually lay their eggs during the spring season. Birds are very different in so many ways, but they have this one thing in common: laying their eggs during the spring.
But why do birds lay eggs in the spring? The primary reason behind this bird habit is that the spring season is the perfect time to lay eggs. The spring has the ideal temperature and the ideal timing to lay the eggs so that there will be enough time for the baby birds to learn how to survive when the other season starts.
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Spring Season Has the Perfect Temperature
If you are wondering when do birds lay their eggs, it is in the spring. Most birds lay their eggs during the spring season because this time of the year has the perfect temperature to lay eggs. It is the best time to build the nest and lay the eggs because the birds will take advantage of the warm months to lay the eggs and raise the baby birds.
The snow starts to melt in the spring season while the flowers begin to bloom. It is also when the plants start growing their leaves again. The spring season is also the birds’ best time to pick up twigs off the ground and carry them in their beaks.
When you see the birds doing that, they have started gathering materials to build their nest where they can lay their eggs. So many birds are building their nest and laying their eggs in the spring and not in other seasons because of the ideal temperature.
Spring Season is the Perfect Time of the Year
It is obvious that birds do not lay eggs in the winter because of the cold temperature outside. It is a fact that birds need to keep their eggs warm and incubate during the whole egg-laying process so that the eggs will hatch properly.
There is also no available food during the colder months of the winter season. It is expected that the plants have already dropped their leaves with no bugs out in the open. It is just too hard to raise baby birds during the winter season.
But what about the other seasons? During the summer, the temperature is also warm, while in the fall, there are a lot of twigs and leaves available for the bird’s nest. However, the bird still prefers to lay their eggs during the spring. Why is that?
Baby Birds Take Time to Grow
To answer the question, the spring season is the perfect time of the year because it will take some time for the baby birds to grow or develop and be independent in the wild. A baby bird, when they are born, is helpless. They will need their mother for the food that they need.
Baby birds will take some time to grow big enough to be real birds. Throughout springtime, you might notice birds producing a chirping sound. The sounds come from the baby birds as they communicate to their parents that they are hungry and are in need of food.
Experts call it the begging behavior, where the baby birds try to call their mother to beg for food. The baby birds will eat and eat. As they grow every day, the more they will beg for food from their parents. The parents will need to work hard to feed them come the spring season.
After a few weeks, most of these baby birds will finally be big enough to leave the nest. But these young birds will not be leaving their parents for good. Once their feathers grow, they will now start flying. The birds will hop around and practice short flights. This stage is where the experts call the birds fledgelings.
If you compare it to humans, the birds now become teenagers or fledgelings. Even if fledgelings are the same size as their parents, they are still unable to take care of themselves completely.
This stage is when they constantly follow their parents around and beg for food. It is usual for you to see two birds roaming around with one bird begging for food by making loud noises in late spring.
All of this development: from hatching the eggs, growing bigger, getting feathers, and learning how to fly, will all take time. For most bird parents, if they wait to lay their eggs during the summer or fall, there will not be enough time for the baby birds to develop before the winter season comes.
Many birds lay their eggs in spring because it is a special season for them. It is the perfect time because it has warmer weather and more food than winter. Baby birds born in the spring have more time to grow and develop compared to when they are born in other seasons.
Spring is the Perfect Season to Mate
The spring season is also the perfect time for the birds to mate before the female birds lay their eggs. They have a special productive system that will let them mate when hormonal changes happen early in the spring.
Many birds will not be able to mate outside the spring season because it is natural for them. Birds do not mate for pleasure. They mate only for reproduction purposes. It is their nature to act like this when mating.
Outside the spring, the male bird will also be sterile, while the female birds will produce fewer eggs due to the scarcity of food, resulting in lesser calcium needed in egg creation.
These limitations make the spring season the best time for baby birds to survive.
Conclusion
Why do birds lay eggs in the spring? The reason behind it is that the spring season is just the perfect time for the birds to lay their eggs and give time for their babies to grow and be independent come wintertime. The spring season is also warmer and has abundant food, essential when taking care of baby birds.