One morning I was putting Ella in her carseat and was dive bombed by a bird. I was parked near a tree by our house. I briefly thought the bird had just miscalculated it's distance and almost hit my head by accident. As I got in the car I saw a bird sitting on the handicapped sign staring me down with a beak full of string. It dawned on me that there must be a nest in the little tree. Sure enough - I was right !
Every morning we have enjoyed going out and looking at the nest. Every morning mommy robin is dutifully sitting on her nest. We couldn't wait until the day when these little baby robins were born !
On Fathers Day, after arriving home from a delicious brunch with my husbands family, we checked the next and there were two tiny heads popping out of the nest !! I think we have counted three but we can fully see two for sure. They are so ugly they are cute !
We were so excited to find out they were born on Fathers Day ! Ella thinks the daddy robin is very excited the babies have a birthday on Fathers Day !
Ella can see the nest from our room and has been standing in the window making sure they are being taken care of and no one is bothering them. She comes and gives us hourly reports.
"Mommy, the mommy robin just flew into the tree. Those babies are safe now."
I've found myself out there when the kids aren't even around checking on my babies just to see them peering out of the nest. It has given us a distraction every morning and something to look forward to when we leave the house or arrive home. I'll be sad when they have to fly away.
You'll have to look hard but here are a few pictures I captured of them.
I've even looked up a few facts about robins
Nesting: It takes from two to six days to make the nest, with an average of 180 trips per day to find materials. Males sometimes help gather nesting materials but the female chooses the site and builds the nest.
Brooding: The female robin incubates her eggs for about 12 to 16 days. She sits on the eggs for 40-minute periods. Then she stands up, turns the eggs and flies off to feed or for a break. The male stands guard and sometimes sits on the eggs.
Chicks: The chicks are fed by both parents. They eat about 35 to 40 meals a day. The parents keep the nests clean by carrying away or eating the chicks' fecal sacs. The father becomes more involved in feeding and nest maintenance as the chicks get older because the mother might have left to build a new nest for the next brood. When they are about 13 days old, the chicks leave the nest. They stay in their parents' territory for a few weeks but leave after about a month.
Song: The robin is one of the first birds to sing in the morning and is one of the last to be heard at night. The male is most vocal, usually singing from high points in the morning and during courtship. The robin is one of the few birds to sing throughout the winter.
