Anyone want to guess...

how many mealworms one Robin eats in a day?

I've been routinely feeding one female since the 15th. She was not the female that nested on our porch, but it's the one that nested in our neighbor's crab apple tree. The 1st day I fed her mealworms, she fed her fledgling a beak full of mealworms. The female has been fed every day since. She only fed her fledgling on the 15th. All the days since she has just eaten for herself.
Yesterday I was testing to see how many mealworms she would eat per feeding. If I put X# in the container, there would always be a few left. If I left X#, she would eat them all and was satisfied and flew off. Sometimes I'd miss a mealworm that was near death and she would leave it to let me know...LOL
Today I timed her feedings to be between 1 hour and 15 minutes apart to about an hour and 45 minutes. I started feeding her today at 8:50am. I'm sure if I was up at 4-5am, she would have had 2 more feedings. Well, she is on her own in the morning. This ole' gal is not going out any earlier for feedings.
So, long story short, and back to my original question, how many mealworms do you think one Robin can eat in a day?
BTW, I only feed her and I bring the container back inside when she is done. It serves many reasons. I couldn't afford to feed anymore birds and it helps me keep track of the #'s she eats too. I'm seriously considering starting to make a mealworm farm...if not soon, definately for next Spring!!!
The only day she fed her fledgling was on the 15th...all the other days since then she eats all of the mealworms I give her, and none are carried away other than the ones in her belly. Since her nest is up in a different tree 2 houses away, I have no clue as to if she is nesting one more time or not...time will tell.

I will give you the answer to the question after several try and guess 1st. I thought it would be fun. I will only give you one clue. If I got up at about 4-5am, there would be a total of 11 feedings a day. I feed her 9 times a day :)

Here's a few pics...
This is the 1st pic I took of her eating mealworms I put out...

This message was edited Jun 22, 2010 6:29 PM

This message was edited Jun 22, 2010 6:39 PM

I think she stopped to thank me in this pic...

And she went over to our fence and fed her fledgling (June 15th)...

Close-up of fledgling...

Great shots!

She now only eats for herself...I don't think she would be regergitating food for hatchlings yet if she is nesting again. Here's a recent pic of her feeding...
BTW, for those of you that are attempting to count the # of mealworms in the tray, it won't work. This pic was taken 2 days ago before I started to test how many she would eat ;)

This message was edited Jun 22, 2010 6:43 PM

Thanks Pirl! Wanna guess on the mealworm count? :)

41

Pirl,

Is 41 your guess for total quanity for a single day of 9 feedings or per feeding?

This message was edited Jun 22, 2010 7:45 PM

It was going to be my guess for the daily intake but I think I counted seven in her mouth so 7 x 11 = 77 for my revised total.

Pirl,

Well, a good guess, but not quite :)

Ok, I'll spill the beans. I was going to wait til others guessed...oh well. She consistantly ate between 28-30 at each feeding...for a grand total of 264!
AND...if I would wake up early for her, which would be for a period of 2 more feedings (time-wise), add about another 60...which doesn't include any snacks she eats like a blackberry or 2...or an earthworm as a midnight snack...Wowie! Here's the schedule from just today. Thank goodness I'm getting them by containers that have 500 each!!!

8:50am...she ate 28 of 30 (2 were almost dead and she wouldn't eat 2 of them)
10:20am...she ate 30
11:45am...she ate 30
1:25pm...she ate 29 (of what I thought was 30...1 was just a casing of skin...oopsie! LOL)
2:55pm...she ate 30
4:40pm...she ate 29 (left 1...still alive...maybe it looked at her funny...lol)
6:30pm...she ate 30
8:05pm...she ate 28 (left 2)
9:20pm...she ate 30

I think she would eat every last one if you left that container out for a day. Very impressive beek full of worms. Any Bluebird would be jealous - beek envy.

Hello Gazergirl,

Well, I tried leaving some out inbetween her feedings a few days ago to see how often she'd come, but the closest 2 periods she'd feed on mealworms was 1 hour and 15 minutes. When she has a full belly, it's full for awhile and 30 seems to be her max all at one feeding/period. When I would leave as many as 35 when I was testing out quanity she would stop eating them, she didn't eat more than 31, so I kept the # I'd put in the container for each feeding to be 30. She does seem to have a berry or 2 though...she left a berry poo deposit upon one of her last visits.
The only time she had a beakful of worms was when she fed her fledgling. All the other times she eats one at a time, so she is by me for a few minutes during each feeding.
There was one time that I fell asleep taking a nap on the patio and she woke me up to let me know it was feeding time! LOL
Dance puppet Dance :D

LOL, Good thread Susan!

What an appetite! Good thing you're not feeding her Big Mac's!

You have a good heart, SusanLouise, and it shows.

Thanks Pelle! :)

Pirl,
Big Macs...LOL
I would need a semi to back into our driveway to drop them off!
It really boggles the mind how much she can eat. I tried to picture that many mealworms in a container and it would be like she ate the weight of at least 1/2 of herself in a single day...amazing! We had some severe T-storms roll through here last night and early this morning, so when I went to feed her at about 9:am, she was waiting for me perched on the rim of a pot of one of our patio potted plants...bless her little heart. I feel needed :D

great thread; thanks for sharing this. it is amazing that there are enough worms in the wild to support so many birds. kinda gross if I think about it too much :)

Susan - this is all so sweet and the fact that she was waiting for you is delightful and a moment to cherish.

Would you consider weighing the next container and seeing how long it takes her to finish them? I have heard birds eat twice their weight in a day but haven't ever seen it verified.

Pirl,

I don't have a sensitive enough of a weigh scale to weigh the mealworms, but if she eats 264+ a day from me, add on whatever she eats before 1st light in the morning til about 9am, then a berry and earthworm or two...if not more during the day, it could easily add up to close to her weight in a day plus more. She brobably eats even more if she is regergitating during the hatchlings early stage when they are too young to have pieces of worms and bugs. She surely eats more when she migrates too...so the possibility of a Robin eating twice it's weight is very possible, but I don't think it would be every day. The intake is no doubt relative to it's daily tasks. I'm sure a female eats more when building a nest and probably eats less on a day she spends most of the time incubating her eggs...as examples. That's my guess...
I just timed her last feeding eating all 30 mealworms a few minutes ago...1 minute and 6 seconds...taking time out inbetween a few of them to look up at me :D

It's a delight to read your posts, Susan, especially in view of the fiasco you experienced. Do you think it might be the same robin?

She eats like a teenage boy!