Baby Birds in Our Own Backyard

There’s a robin’s nest in Rand Park! And it has baby birds in it! To protect the birds we can’t disclose its location. When we first discovered the nest, there were three baby birds and two unhatched eggs. We knew they were robins because of the blue eggs. The blue color in robin eggs is due to biliverdin, a pigment deposited on the eggshell when the female lays the eggs. There is some evidence that higher biliverdin levels indicate a healthier female and brighter blue eggs. Eggs laid by a healthier female seemed to encourage males to take more interest in their young. Robins usually lay four eggs and then stop, which was the case with this mother robin. Typically the mother lays one egg a day and then the eggs hatch in the order they were laid in. In that case, the two unhatched eggs were laid later than the hatched eggs. The female incubates the eggs for two weeks until they hatch and then both parents care for the young.

I didn't get a picture of the birds before hatching but here's a picture from Google Images.

The babies will become fledglings two weeks after they hatch, which means that their feathers and wing muscles are developed enough for flying but they are still dependent on the care of the parent. Birds learn to fly through practice, guided by their innate ability and the example of their parents. Flying is an innate ability but a learned behavior.

A majority of the robins fly south for the winter, but some stick around. Robins that do not migrate tend to move around during the winter, motivated by food. Robins eat berries in the winter and worms and insects in the spring when the ground thaws. Robins have to wander around during the winter to follow the food supply.

The mother robin starts screaming when I get near the nest to take a picture. I’ve only done it twice because I don’t want to cause her or the babies any stress. Contrary to popular belief, parents will not abandon their babies if they come in contact with humans. However, if you find this nest or any other, PLEASE respect the birds and don’t mess with it or share with anyone else.

First picture of the babies taken on May 23rd

Second picture of the babies taken on May 26th! Look how much they've grown! (creds to Ms. Eckert for the photo)

I raised a baby robin a couple years ago named Chirp Chirp. He was a fledgling when I found him but he wasn’t old enough to survive the world on his own. I fed him cat food dissolved in water from an eyedropper because it is a good source of protein and fiber. I squirted the food into his open mouth from above to try to mimic his parents throwing up into his mouth (ew!). When he got older I bought mealworms from Petco and dangled those above his head. 

Creds to Google Images

He got really good at flying and I was so proud. I’m not sure how he learned because he didn’t have a real bird mom to teach him but maybe he learned by watching birds outside. The interweb says flying is a learned behavior but this experience made me think it is more innate. Chirp Chirp soon flew away from me and I cried, but I couldn’t be more proud of my baby. Every time I see a robin I think of him and wonder if it’s him coming back to say thank you.

UPDATE!

The kids have left the nest! Ms. Eckert brought the nest inside. Most websites say that robins don't reuse their nests. One says that they sometimes build on top of them or reuse parts of it. I think it might have been better to leave it where it was but looking at the nest up close allowed us to see how the robins had constructed it. We saw that it had a plastic bag and the plastic ring around the top of bottles. Do you think these materials are dangerous for the birds? Maybe it's time to start throwing our trash where it belongs- in the garbage can.

The empty nest :( A sad but proud moment