Signs of Spring

One of my favorite signs of Spring - baby birds.  Sometimes the story ends happily, and other times, not so...

I found this beautiful black-capped chickadee egg on the ground near some bushes that abut the back porch.  I've looked and looked, but can't find the nest. 

These two eggs are all that remain of a clutch of four that was laid in a nest in a bush near our front door.  Sadly, the robin parents abandoned the nest which they had built at a very steep angle.  The other two eggs had fallen out after stormy weather.  It looks like the babies were just about to hatch.

On a positive note, these week-old robin cuties are doing quite well.  Their nest is located in a small fir adjacent to our back porch so we can get a good look and track their progress.

No more robins

Sad news. Egg shells were scattered on the ground underneath the bush where the robins were nesting. A peek inside the nest revealed no eggs and no babies. The soft grass lining the nest had been pulled up. Most likely another bird, perhaps a crow, discovered the nest and ate the eggs. We'll wait and see if the robins come back to try a third time.

Robins Round 2

The robins are back for round two of nesting. There are three eggs this time. Instead of finding a new nesting spot, the pair decided to reserve their energy and reuse the first nest they built. My prediction was that they were going to move and build a new nest in a quieter location. Trying to nest peacefully next to a deck where there's a busy flow of kids running up and down the stairs is quite a challenge. Especially when people make frequent stops to peek at the occupants and coo, "Oh how cute!" (Yes, I'm guilty!)

Robins

A pair of American Robins (Turdus migratorius) has built a nest in a large bush next to the stairs of our back deck. We have had the opportunity to watch the building process, see the finished empty nest fill with blue eggs, and observe the parents' behavior.

The empty nest, is made mostly of twigs and dried grasses and lined with wet leaves and mud. It seemed that the female did the majority of the building work.

At last count, there were four eggs.

Here's mom diligently hatching her brood. The duller colored female robin spends most of her time on the nest while her more darkly colored mate searches for food and stands guard in a nearby tree. It takes about 2 weeks for the eggs to hatch, so we should be seeing chicks soon.

Robins are the largest members of the thrush family in the United States. While some migrate to warmer parts for the winter, many stay on if there is adequate food and shelter. Most people think of robins as worm eaters, but they also enjoy grubs and other insects as well as berries. When my husband and I lived in Naples, Florida during the early 1990's, we would see huge flocks of robins during the winter gorging themselves on red berries from bushes along the sides of the road. It appeared that the berries made them "drunk."

Robins are part of Cornell University's Ornithology department's Urban Birds Project. Visit the site at www.birds.cornell.edu/NetCommunity to see all their citizen science programs. No need to be a bird expert. These projects are great for classroom use. The data you collect and send in will be used for research.