PM Incubation time

[Fuzzmeister]

Hi I am a first year landlord and I was watching them one evening. The males all seem to be just perched on the outside entrances and I am not seeing any females so I am thinking that they are sitting on the nests incubating. My question is does the female sit on the eggs for the 16 days or does the male take a turn at it every once and a while or can the female leave for a few minutes without any sitting on the eggs?

[Dale D]

Although the Male isn't capable of incubating he will sometimes sit on the eggs while the female feeds, or he may sit on the porch guarding the nest while the female feeds.

[Fuzzmeister]

Dale
From observing my house the female will leave for 5 minutes or longer how long can the eggs sit there with her not sitting on them?

[-=DKC=-]

Dale
From observing my house the female will leave for 5 minutes or longer how long can the eggs sit there with her not sitting on them?

I've always assumed that the time she can be away from the eggs may depend somewhat on the outside temps. I've observed my females leaving to feed for a time but generally they spend most of their time in the gourds during incubation. I often see them sticking their heads out for a little break. And the very best males will feed the female while she incubates. Too bad all the males aren't as helpful.

[GeneP]

From the PMCA website:

https://www.purplemartin.org/purple-mar ... /timeline/