Bad luck Robins.

by Shawna
(Calgary Canada)

I have a pair of robins that like to nest at the front of our house.

They set up in one of two places at the front of our house One is a cow skull by our stair case to the front on the house, the other is over the light in the corner right by our front door.

Over the years they seem to prefer setting up on the light which is not convenient for us.

I have tried to make my presence known by using the front door more often when I notice them come back in the spring to make them not want to set up their nest in that particular spot but it does not seem to work.

I like them being around but not startling me or guests when they are only feet from your head when the robin flies out of the nest to the lilac bush only a couple feet away to squawk at you angrily.

I am wondering if they would they stick around if I made a barricade around our light to prevent them nesting in that particular spot?

I just might see if I can find a nice nesting shelf and place it in a better spot so everyone can be happy.

My second question is in regards to their babies.

I had noticed I was not seeing the parents around as much lately but figured the babies were probably too big for the mom to sit in the nest and I just didn't see them hanging out in the nearby trees.

But when my sister was over the other day she went out our front door and I instantly noticed a bad smell with led me to a terrible assumption causing me to investigate.

So I jumped up on our hand rail so I could get my head up to the nest level and sure enough I could see a couple dead babies and no other movement in the nest.

So I got in there and pulled out the very stinky nest which was really wedged in the corner over the light and much thicker than I expected it to be!

When I hauled out the nest I was sad to see 5 dead babies! They were large and their wings were feathered so I would have expected them to be leaving the nest soon!

My roommate said he picked up a dead one off the side walk already only a few days prior so they had quite the full nest, 6 in total.

I am trying to figure out what could have caused the babies to die! I made sure the light was not turned on as to not over heat the nest or cause it to catch fire.

I stopped using the front door with the exception of the odd guest coming over or leaving. I was constantly seeing the parents with worms in their mouths nearby so they were doing a good job feeding them.

Could one baby have died and the smell caused the parents to not return to the nest?

The day after I removed the nest I saw what looked like the female sitting back where the nest used to be which broke my heart!

I know that at least one of the two parents are still around and they did not die leaving their babies behind. They were so close to leaving the nest!

I seems like these robins have had lots of bad luck over the years. We pick up 3-4 dead babies each year off the side walk or stairs but they have never been as developed as all the ones in this nest!

Is there anything I can do to help these guys out!
I was glad to read that they can nest more than once in a season so my fingers are crossed they still have a chance for a second go for raising some babies. (they have never set up more than one nest here before but maybe they will this year! Fingers crossed!).

From Wild-Bird-Watching.com

Robins usually don't use the same nest in the same season but will return to the same location the following Spring.

There are several things that could have cause the death of your baby birds. Mites can kill baby birds and are more problematic in wet Springs. Other parasites can cause problems also.

Other birds may be pulling young from the nest, which may be why you find them on the sidewalk. Crows, Grackles, and Bluejays are just a few birds that eat the young of other birds.

Putting something around the light will keep them from nesting there but they may not choose your nesting shelf. You just have to decide to take the chance.

Thank you for your story submission.

Gene
www.wild-bird-watching.com