New neighbors

I went outside to water some plants yesterday, and discovered some bird feathers and what looked like blood on my steps and front walk. It looked like there had been some kind of bird fight, or that a cat had gotten to a bird. Anyway, I suspected that there might be a nest nearby, and that a bird had been protecting itself and the babies against predators. I did a little detective work around the shrubs and trees in the yard, and discovered a robin's nest in the dogwood tree right next to my front porch. You can't see it in the picture, but there appears to be two just-hatched babies in the nest. They don't have their eyes open yet, as far as I can tell. I watched Mom and Dad bring them food for quite awhile. I'll post some more pictures as I get other views. Pretty cool!

Oh how exciting! I will be watching for updates!

Here you can see the two babies more clearly. They've been sitting with their mouths open pretty much all day! Must be pretty hungry, I guess.

Very cute pics ckk! thanks for posting them!

Here they are today - waiting for food. Mom (or dad) was in the nest most of the morning, but seems to have taken a break - maybe to get food? Does anyone know if this is unusual, for the parent to leave the nest when the young are so defenseless?

If the weather is warm and dry enough, and the babies need more food as they get bigger, most bird families have both parents collecting and gathering food, and therefore they leave the nest. Sometimes the wrens in the nest box have both parents arrive at the same time, and then one waits until the other has made the delivery. I think most birds have one parent sitting on the nest at night to keep the babies warm, and maybe for some protection. Also, I have noticed that when it is time for the babies to leave the nest, the parents wait longer to bring food to the nest, probably to encourage those hungry babies to leave. I read once that the babies, as they leave the nest, weigh more than the parents, but lose that "baby fat" quickly as they learn to fly and start getting less food delivered on demand.

Susan in Minneapolis

Is that why young hummingbirds seem to be larger than the parents?