A robin made a nest in the window box right outside my office. I immediately trained a camera on it and watched as nature instinctively played out.
I finally have my window box back after weeks of squatting by a pair of neighbourhood robins. The mother had a fluffy, squishy bum, perfect for forming a nest. I got to sit and watch exactly how a robin builds one of those perfect nests. It's all in the bum and she works it. Mama Robins are the J Lo's of the bird world. It's amazing.
The father is always around too. He's either helping to find nest materials, guarding the nest or finding food for the babies. He is 100% involved.
Since I had such an up close and personal view of this nest for so long I made a point to stop doing everything else in my life including, but not limited to showering, eating, working, watching television, gardening and communicating with friends and family. All of the time I would have put into these activities was put into watching the life of a robin.
And documenting it.
And telling people about it.
Anyone really.
I learned a lot about robins during this episode. Here are a few of the facts.
All About Robins
- The nest is primarily built by the female robin.
- A robin lays 4 eggs, one each day for 4 days. (Occasionally there will be 3 or 5)
- She doesn't start to sit on the eggs right away because she won't be ready to incubate them until 2 or 3 of them are laid. This way the eggs hatch at close to the same time.
- Robins eggs hatch after 14 days of incubation.
- The nest may look like it has been abandoned, but if the female has gone to eat, leaving the nest alone, the male is somewhere watching over the nest for predators. Often he'll fly over and stand right by the nest to protect it.
- The hatchlings know to pop their heads up and open their mouths as soon as they feel a light bump on the side of their nest. They know it's their mama landing there with food.
- The baby birds spend another 9 - 16 days before they leave the nest.
When they hatch out of their shells, baby robins are helpless, blind and featherless.
Within a couple of hours the mother is already bringing it worms to eat.
You can see, she's landed on the nest, they've felt the bump, and almost all of them popped their heads up for food.
They are beautiful. Provided you think old bald men with massive eyebrows are beautiful.
Day by day you can see different parts of the birds develop. Downy feathers come quickly, nostrils open up, that trademark yellow beak starts to form and ears get bigger and better at hearing. You can see the ear in the picture below, just behind the big googly eye.
Better than the photos, I got it all on video. (If you have an adblocker running on your computer you will not be able to see watch video below)
I left the nest in my window box for 2 weeks in case they wanted to "try again". But they never came back. So I bagged the nest for my collection and cleared out the window box. It's currently filled with a riot of red geraniums, parsley, lavender and Ivy Geraniums.
Yet it still isn't as pretty as it was last week.
Have a good weekend!
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Angie Maltese
Hi Karen, a friend recommended your site. Wonderful, I learned so many new things. Last summer (2019) I helped a female robin feed & successfully fledge 4 babies. Her mate had died the first day she started sitting on the nest. As you mentioned, Daddy Robin is 100% invested in raising & feeding the babies. I purchased close to 30,000 live mealworms which I gave Mommy Robin to feed to her babies. I was there to see 2 of the 4 fledge, but they all successfully fledged as they hung around for about 2 weeks afterwards while learning to fly. This year Mommy Robin did not return to the same place to nest. But we do have a pair who successfully brought at least 3 babies to fledge around May 20. So rewarding to watch. I like to think one of them is Mommy Robin’s offspring. To protect Mommy Robin’s babies, I purchased a “Turbo Jet” on Amazon which I systematically used to scare any crow that dared come within visual distance of our yard. It seemed to work. Thanks for sharing your beautiful but heart wrenching story.
Karen
Congratulations on your robins Angie! It was absolutely gutwrenching when I came home and found the nest empty. It was just awful. ~ karen!
Andrew Greenwood
The eggs were hedge sparrows.Robins eggs are a buff colour.
Karen
Not in Canada they're not. In Canada Robin's eggs are very much blue. :) ~ karen!
Safetydog
Beautiful pictures and video. Thank you for sharing. Sad ending, but that is nature. How do the robins keep the nest so clean? We've had wrens or sparrows or something nest on top of an outdoor speaker for several years. The nest and top of the speaker are covered in bird poop every year. We kindly clean it up for them.
Thea
Wow!! That's very cool. Nice of those birds to put their nest right in your window like that. You must have very positive vibes.
Just a thought on removing of the nest. I recently learned that other birds will take over old nests, so it might be good to leave them if it's not in a bad spot for you. Also, apparently good nesting material is hard to find for birds in urban environments, other birds will steal materials they need from empty nests, so another good reason to leave them out.
Angela
so beautiful and so sad. Thank you for capturing and sharing!
Jane C.
So sad to hear about your robins. Mine did fledge while I was out one day. The last one was still on the nest when I arrived home and I got a photo.
Karen
Look how cute! And young looking, lol. Such a baby. ~ karen!
Barb
Perfect timing for these lovely pictures. I've been watching 5 bluebird babies for several weeks and was fortunate enough to see their initial flight today. What a treat!
Jacquie Gariano
I lived in Spokane, WA. years ago and had a planter hug on the garage wall that over looked the patio and I had a great view out our large kitchen window. A pair of Robins made a nest in it and hatched 3 eggs. Such beautiful blue. We were very lucky to watch the laying, hatching and feeding of the babies. In "those" days we could only watch and occasionally snap photos of the babies and adults. We were lucky, they grew big enough to leave the nest on their own and hopefully live a full life. Loved your video. Thanks so much for sharing. Maybe they will come again next year.
Elaine
Thank you, Karen, for the beautiful (but sad) video. My last Summer in a house (now in a condo), an empty robin’s nest fell down from our pergola onto the patio. I was just truly amazed at its “architecture” (!!) and so wanted to pick it up and bring it with me but was very concerned about health issues so I left it for the next occupant.
I just wish I’d known of you then because I would definitely have asked you for advice. By the way, I often direct readers of Home Talk to your site regarding everything under the sun ... from toilets to tomatoes. I tell them they will get the best advice and the only advice they’ll ever need! 😊
Karen
Thank you so much for doing that Elaine. I appreciate it. Mentions like that can make a big difference. :) ~ karen!
Diane C
This is absolutely amazing Karen!
It makes me so in awe of nature.
Vikki
Amazing that such a beautiful bird starts out as such a butt-ugly ball of skin. Nature is very "red in tooth and claw."
Janet
Wow. That was awesome (except the ending...) Thanks for sharing this.
Jan in Waterdown
Yesterday while wandering around a nearby garden nursery, I noticed a printed sign “Warning, bird nesting” on a hanging basket. So of course I had to have a wee peek and there in the middle of the geraniums was a mourning dove looking down at me like she was ready to peck my eyes out. I swear some birds have nasty facial expressions lol.
Elizabeth Clough
Ahhh, lovely, beautiful and heartwrenching all at the same time.
What a gift to experience this miracle of nature. I'm so sorry the babies didn't make it...
Dave R
I was going to comment about the crack about old bald men with massive eyebrows, but after watching the snuff video, I'm just gonna say that Mother Nature and crows, especially, suck.
Laura Ingalls Gunn
This was truly amazing! Years ago a mother hummingbird nested in our outdoor patio chandelier a total of three times. It was beautiful. My children still talk about the experience to this day. Thank you so much for sharing. Even though the ending was sad.
Teresa
Mine came back after a month and now have 4 more eggs in the nest. They used it last year too.
Robins built a nest in the eves of my open tool shed - it is right under the roof so I have to sneak my phone up there to see any eggs. I can’t get to it and I don’t think crows can either but other climbing critters might. I know the first batch hatched this year but I don’t know if they fledged. I can’t even work in the shed because mama leaves the nest when I go in to get anything and at least one of the parents flys to a nearby branch and yells at to get the hell out of there. So I do.
Jane
Thanks, Karen, I was wondering about your robins after what happened to our cardinals. They are a young pair that came to feed on the table on the front porch during the winter. Late last month, they built a nest in the forsythia bush about 2 feet away from the side of the porch. It was hard to see clearly, but I managed to see 3 eggs in it. I was so thrilled when they started hatching at the last day of the month, which was a Friday. If mama cardinal left the nest and the bush moved, the babies would immediately opened their mouths wide. So cute! The following Monday morning, I could even hear quiet chirps. Late afternoon that same day, after I came home from shopping, they were gone! My husband told me that he did hear loud chirping for a bit while I was out, but since both our cats were inside, he didn't bother to investigate. The cardinals were still hovering around for another day before they moved on somewhere else to start again. Very, very sad.
Heather
Those photos are lovely! Reminded me of childhood, climbing into apple trees to look at the eggs and baby robins in their nests. Sadly, in the last couple of years, we have seen a huge increase in nest robbing by crows in our neighbourhood. They are taking all the song birds around here; it aint a pretty thing to witness. Don't know if anything can (or should) be done about it.
Lynne
Fascinating and very educational. One spring I spent a morning herding baby robins under spruce trees to try to save them from the magpies pecking their heads. Nature is cruel! Thanks so much.
carol bittner
Thank you for this awesome video. I like to watch the birds build their nest and raise their young but what I have seen can't compare to your story and video. They had a sad ending; but that is also a big part of nature. Now your window box is filled with more beautiful nature to enjoy.