Front Door Wreath Robin Nest

by Susie
(Farmington, UT)

Two weeks ago my husband opened our front door to go out and said, "Was that always on this wreath?" while pointing to a bird's nest on top of our door wreath.

The wreath does have quite a 'natural' look to it, but no, it had never had an actual nest on top.

Later that day, we went out the side of the house to take a look from afar, and a Robin was there in the nest packing mud.

My 5 year old showed all her friends that day, and for a while we really tried to use other doors so as not to disturb the birds.

I hadn't seen much of the birds since then and thought they had given up on the nest. We've had some cooler weather and have not been as diligent about not using the front door. However, yesterday and today I've seen and heard the Robins quite a lot.

The mother has been sitting in the nest most of both days, with the male usually nearby. And they are often making lots of noise. Once when someone approached the door and the birds were gone I pulled a chair over and took a peek - 2 beautiful eggs!

Just a few months ago we cut down two ornamental cherry trees that were right in front of the garage and getting too large for the space. We had seen a bird's nest and even the babies every Spring in one of those trees every year we've lived here.

Could these Robins be the same ones, but because the trees were gone, found the next best place? We have five ornamental pear trees, a few quakies, and a very large birch in our front yard. So why would they choose the front door?

I don't want to upset their nest or put them in danger. But I'm afraid we may have too many visitors to the front door as the weather gets nicer and I'm due to have a baby in two weeks!

Should I put caution tape around and a sign pointing to another entrance? Will the birds really abandon the eggs if we use the front door too much? Any suggestions about what to do next would be appreciated.