Day 5 now and they still are little sleepy heads. I didn't bother to take a photo yesterday ~ figured there wouldn't be much difference. Today they look a little fluffier but still have a way to go! The mom flew down to the fence when I was visiting...I did get yelled at!
If you notice the white bird house in the background; that has a nest full of baby house sparrows. Both those parents have been busy as can be constantly feeding them. We sit with binoculars and can see their little beaks open up thru the hole :)
They look so cozy in a pile! You'd never guess that they jostle one another mercilessly when mama arrives with a beakful of worm... have you witnessed that ruckus?
There was a robin nest somewhere in my front landscaping, and the babies fledged yesterday! One of them got himself stuck in a large empty planter I put out by the front porch... I scooped him out, and mama yelled at me a lot while I put him in a nearby bush. Then I filled the planter with potting mix and flowers so that wouldn't happen again!
A tip in case you have to rescue your fledglings from a similar fix... if you gently cover their head (with your hand or even with a little towel or something, they will quiet down and not struggle when you scoop them up.
Thanks for the fledgling tip :)
I didn't take any photos yesterday. Today is day 7 since the first hatched. Yesterday was the first time I noticed the rukus you talked about! The mom flew off and dad flew on with a beak full of worms! I can't get close enough to get them being fed but their heads are up along the side so I guess they can breathe since she sits on them!
Oh how they grow so fast! And mom and dad certainly do create a ruckus when us humans try to get in close to take photos!
Day 9 photo. The babies are getting strong, eyes open, big appetites and their feathers are developing. They eagerly stretch up with their beaks wide open even when parents aren't there. I'm now getting worried about when they fall out or jump out. On the one side is our concrete patio. I was thinking of laying down some plastic bags of weeds to cushion the fall just in case.
The baby sparrows (in the white hanging bird house opposite the robins) are just about ready to fledge too. Yesterday one had his entire body perched out of the hole with his little feet clinging on as if he was preparing to dive off the high dive ~ while one of his parents sat on the roof top watching :)
Oh, if that baby sparrow was that close to trying his wings, I'll bet today could be the day! We watched chickadees fledge from the bird house next to my parent's porch when we were up in Pittsburgh recently... mama and papa bird were cheeping like anything, cheering them on -- and so were we!
That's a great photo of your robins -- they sure are getting big! I think you might have a good idea about putting something down on the patio under the nest... that first flight tends to be anything but controlled, and sometimes they jostle one another out of the nest before anybody is ready to fly.
With as close as you can get to them, you could probably give them a snack (piece of worm) if you were inclined... just wait until the parents are elsewhere so they don't fuss themselves... it's fun to drop a goodie into one of those gaping beaks! Don't worry about getting your scent on the nest; the parents could care less about that... and unless you're suddenly providing every other meal, you won't interfere with their development as normal robins IMO.... it's just fun, especially if you've got a child around to share the experience.
I'm now getting worried about when they fall out or jump out. On the one side is our concrete patio. I was thinking of laying down some plastic bags of weeds to cushion the fall just in case.
Hi guys!
I had a robin build a nest on our back porch, last month. I have a bunch of pix, but I'm too tired to resize them all right now.
Wind - I would put something under the nest, if I were you, but they'll probably surprise you and flutter farther than you think! I thought ours would hop or fall out, but they fluttered and got all the way over to the fence! I was surprised they could fly so well, for the first time.
Here are my babies - they had four and all hatched and survived.
~Kris
And here's Momma robin, yelling at me for taking pix, LOL! She was funny looking, she had a mohawk, lol. Daddy robin looked normal. Maybe she was just puffing her head feathers out cause she was mad, lol?
~Kris
edited to say - ooops, bad pic, sorry! I'll post the others later, once I resize them all, okay?
This message was edited Jun 19, 2007 4:06 AM
Oh yeah, I wanted to mention. The four babies? They're still hanging around. They're full grown, but I can tell they're the babies cause they still have the white stripes under their throats. And their colors are very saturated - they look very nice. And all four hang out together, lol. They fly together and stay in a little group, lol. It's cute. I think they remember me, too, cause they look at me sideways when I talk to them and don't fly away, lol. I wonder if the babies usually stay together for awhile after they fledge, to help each other out - or if mine just really like their brothers and sisters? lol.
~Kris
Great photos!
Yeah, that "mohawk" crest is mama robin in her "alert!!" mode -- or maybe that's papa robin? The babies stay together initially while they learn to forage, and the parents continue feeding them for a while... I always laugh to see some huge, gawking "teenage" robin following his exhausted mama, loudly demanding to be fed, and she's pretending she can't hear him.
Hi :) Good success story irisL. I hope our robins are as lucky.
I can't tell who's left in the sparrows nest. I'm wondering: do all birds spend time on the ground as "fledglings"? I was thinking of the sparrows and also hummingbirds.
I also noticed another robins nest in our front yard red maple! High up, near the top, without much protection. Last night was a big storm... Low and behold the nest is secure and that mom was in it this morning!
Day 11 for our photo op robins. Yesterday, I observed the babies preening themselves and even stretching and flapping their wings!! Both parents are very busy keeping them fed etc. I decided not to put the weeds down. I thought they have an area of plant basket around their nest, a safety net so to speak. Plus, I think your right, they will be able to coast ok.
I took this photo today; you can see they hunker down their bodies for safety. They fill the entire nest ~ I really don't know how more than 3 babies could fit in a nest without someone falling out!
I saw Carolina wren fledglings all around the patio this morning! At least 3, possibly 4 babies... the parents were herding them together with this loud, buzzing call. They were pretty dang cute!
I think you're right about the plant basket protecting them in case anybody gets jostled out of the nest... and when it's their idea to jump & try their wings, they should do just fine!
well now I feel so bad I could cry...I went to the basket like I always do with my camera and the babies must not have heard me coming and I startled them and they all hopped out!!!!!!!!!! now the parents are trying to find them they scattered into the hummingbird garden somewhere.......here is one of them before he hopped into the weeds for cover.
Wind, don't feel bad, honey! I did exactly the same thing and the babies were fine! The parents won't abandon them. If they hop out, it's because they're ready to. The parents will take care of them and help them. They can flutter around pretty good and will get in the trees or somewhere else safe. The parents will teach them for awhile and take care of them outside of the nest. The same thing happened to my chicks (except I scared them one at a time, lol) and I still see all 4 of them, all grown up. So don't worry, okay? They'll be fine!
~Kris
Wow! It's so cool to see where those robins go in the summer and how they nest. They are here all winter and apparently some of ya'll are very nice to them because some let me get very close.
Hey wind, how are your babies doing?
I've got two robin's nests in close proximity to each other. One has two eggs in it and the other has three eggs in it. There must be other robins around with nestlings because I've been having the time of my life throwing worms up onto the driveway for them and they've been swooping on in to dine. They were so into the worms that the kids were out there with little hand spades trying to dig up worms. Once they realized it was raining worms, robins were flying in from all over. It was really a blast.
Hi, sounds like fun :) digging worms that is!
Our robins had a close call yesterday...they may have had more who knows. I've been listening for their calls and looking for them every day. I have heard them and only saw one once when I was mowing the lawn ~ perched and alert about 5' high in a pine tree! Still didn't have much of a tail. When do their tail feathers grow in?
Yesterday at 6pm I heard a parent robin giving a distinct call and then the babies, definately two babies, gave return calls. I went up to our upstairs bathroom window to watch and see if I could see them and what I saw was a black mancoon cat from a few houses down the street prowling around our hosta/azalea/periwinkle garden!!!!!!!! I ran out with my family and loyal dog and shooed off the kitty. The cat was in a playful mood which I recognized by the way he hooked up his tail and trotted off (with a happy trot). The bird calls stopped after that. So now I know what the warning/danger robin call sounds like. Alot like their regular chatter but much louder and distinct responses from each bird.
I think their flight and tail feathers are there but they just grow out until one day they have grown out enough for them to fly. It does always seem as if they are little blobs of fluff because it takes a while for those tail feathers to grow.
