Birds Eggs Fell From Nest

Question
QUESTION: Hi,

There was a bird that had a nest in the small potted tree next to my garage. My son's friends came and toilet papered our house and trees, knocking the eggs down accidentally. We found two white eggs in the soil, one cracked and one not. My husband told me the cracked egg was a goner so I reluctantly wrapped it up and he threw it away. The other I grabbed with toilet paper because I had heard rumors birds will not care for the eggs once a person has handled them. I places it back in the nest.

Please tell me, was that correct? Can I do anything else? Will the mother bird return? Could the cracked egg have lived? If the mother does not return what should I do?

The bird was medium size, light brown, short and soft looking feathers, with rather large black eyes. The neck was short, and not skinny, the head was round looking and small in comparison to it's body. I haven't seen many birds that look like this.

Please advise and thank you.
Heather

ANSWER: You did exactly the right thing - putting the uncracked egg back in the nest. The cracked one would not live and the uncracked one might not live either, but you did the best thing. By the way, it is not true that handling eggs with your bare hands will cause the parents to abandon the nest, eggs or young.I think the mother will return, but I just don't know for sure.
I can't tell what kind of bird it was from your description, but it sounds a bit like a House Sparrow.
If the mother does not return, you can just leave things be because the egg will have gone bad in a day or two.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much for your detailed response.  I did find out that when the boys wrapped the tree, the bird flew out and they shock the tree afterwards (they are teenagers -I have no idea) and that is probably when the eggs fell out.  The mother bird has not returned and this happened Friday night. So by your response, I suppose the baby egg is not able to live any longer since it has been in the nest since then alone.  Would the mother bird be able to realize the eggs had fallen to the soil in the pot?  They were quite obvious.  Or would she come back to see them missing and think someone had taken them? Is it possible she did return and determined the eggs non-salvageable?  What should I now do with the nest and egg?

She would guard them all the time, even when the garage door would open or close or we would approach to water the plant.  I suppose, I feel sad for the entire situation.  I looked up the bird and it is a Common Ground Dove.

ANSWER: Teenagers, eh? Unfortunate. The mother bird abandoned the nest because of the severe disturbance. She has no idea of whether the eggs are good or not. The rule of thumb is that if the eggs were being incubated, as they appear to be, then if they cool or heat up more than a few degrees from incubation temperature, they go bad. Apparently the mother was incubating them, so they are no good. You can just toss the eggs and nest. I hope you are able to educate the teens.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Okay, here is the strangest thing.  It has been exactly one week since the last sighting of the bird.  I never took the nest away because...well I guess I was hoping it would return and figured I would get to it in a week or so.  Then today, we saw a bird that looks just like the mother bird, sitting right in the nest!!  I'm confused for the following reasons: 1) if she came back and is sitting in the nest, doesn't she know that the egg is no longer good because she left it for so long?  Is it possible to live for a week without the mom?  Could the mom have come and gone when we didn't see (we were all really scoping out the nest)?  Could it be another bird that just looks like her sitting in her nest with the egg (this one looks a bit skinnier, but could be my imagination?  I'm sure you understand what I am trying to figure out.  Help me understand, please, lol.

Answer
To answer your questions: it may be the same mother bird, but she would have no idea whether the egg is good or not. If the egg was not incubated before she left, it might still be good. Yes, the mother could have come and gone without you seeing her. Unlikely that it is another bird taking over the nest. The egg may or may not hatch.