Umbrella Bird

by Ivy Sciandra
(New Paltz, NY)

Every spring a Robin tries to build a nest in our deck umbrella. As soon as I spot the behavior, I take the nest down and feel like a real creep.

This year, they were relentless. If I took down the twigs and sticks, they would just come back. If I closed up the umbrella, they started building on the chairs! Finally I gave up.

I now have a robin's nest on my deck. Matilda is very busy sitting on her eggs, however, I can't go outside! Luckily we have a week of rain forecast and we will be going away for the weekend. I am hoping that we have babies when we get home.

I have lots of trees in my yard and every year I accidentally come upon at least 3 or 4 nests in the spruce trees. I get all excited watching the eggs or the babies, then have my heart break when either the eggs or the babies are gone. We have lots of snakes, squirrels, foxes, etc around here.

I think Matilda's babies will have the best chance of survival in the umbrella on my deck. However I can't have this behavior continue. I really do enjoy sitting out there in the spring and summer.

Last year I stuffed balloons up there and I have also tried aluminum foil. Is there anything I can do to deter the nest building on my deck? I really do love the birds, but they don't pay rent!

Porch Light Robin Nest

by Pat Richardson
(Henrico,VA USA)

Robin's Nest on Porch Light

A robin has built a nest on top of my daughter's front porch light. It's up too high for them to see inside the nest, but the robin is dive-bombing at everyone who goes in and out of their front door!

There's a deep red-breasted male who gets very upset when mama bird does, and he paces back and forth in the grass. He is absolutely beautiful, and he seems to be a very attentive expectant father.

Add to this my daughter's male cat who can see all of this from her picture window, and he's going berserk inside. Her boyfriend wanted to knock the nest down when they first saw it, but my daughter wouldn't let him. I laughed until I cried as she was telling me about this.

Since the above 3 paragraphs were written, the eggs have all hatched. There are four beautiful healthy baby robins in the nest now. It's still up too high to see into the nest, but she's had success using her cell phone to take pictures. My daughter is very proud of her "grandbirdies".

Horse Collar Home

by Terrell Wilson
(Gaffney, SC, USA)

Robin Nest with Young On Horse Collar

Adult Robin Feeding Young

I would never have thought that the Red Breasted Robin would make a nest on the side of my storage barn.

However, to my surprise, this spring, while walking past the building, I saw an unusual site.

I have an old horse collar hanging on the side of my storage barn, along with some other old farm tools. I had to take a second look when I saw a robin's nest square on the top of it.

I watched the nest as days passed, and took many photos of the robin and the nest itself.

I could hardly wait until I could see little heads popping up from the nest, and could watch the nesting parents presenting the young with delicious worms and bugs.

Oh, what a site to see. God has done such wonderful things!

We watched as the young grew, put on feathers and began to stretch their wings. Then they began to fly.

The young are now gone, but the nest is not empty, for the female robin has again filled the nest with those beautiful blue eggs.

We anxiously await the birthing of our next young robins.

Robin Nest On Garden Hoe

by Kathy Iredale
(Port Angeles, WA)

Mom (or Dad) sitting on nest

My husband first found the nest. He would walk out through our gate to his pick-up and wonder why Robins were diving him.

Then one day he noticed straw hanging down from his tools that were hung on the side of his garage. He looked up and to his surprise there was a nest.

Once we knew the nest was there we tried hard not to go in the back yard. We didn't want to scare them away. That was impossible of course.

We did wait until the nest was empty whenever possible. It did seem like they got use to us coming and going as they didn't fly away as much.

Eventually my curiosity got the best of me and I had to see how many eggs were in the nest. First I just laid a ladder against the garage. Then I waited a couple days and climbed up to have a look.

My husband told me I shouldn't but if I had to to make sure I didn't touch the nest or eggs. I told him I was smart enough not to do that. There were 3 blue eggs inside.

Then we waited and waited. So afraid mom hadn't sat on the eggs enough because of us. One day I looked out our bathroom window and either mom or dad was in the nest and there was this little creature with the biggest mouth wide open.

It was the best thing ever. Once again I had to climb the ladder. This time to make sure there were 3 babies. There were.

It was so cool watching these little babies. Then we went camping for a week. Got back today and the nest is empty.

We know very little about birds. I have a bird feeder outside our living room window and I also put feed on the window ledge. It's like having an ever changing bird cage.

We also have a hummingbird feeder but that's the extent of it. Will our birds come back to use this nest again? I need to know if I have to start saving to buy my husband new tools.

Robins In My Heart

by Grammie
(Middletown VA)

Stealing Our Hearts

Every year in the spring I get wrens that nest in a mail basket on my back porch and if that's not enough they have taken to nesting in my hanging baskets.

The grandchildren and I love to watch them and at this time I have 1 nest with 2 eggs in it.

The word must have spread because now I have a pair of robins nesting in a double heart grapevine wreath as well, the eggs have hatched, 3 out of 4 and they are such much fun to watch.

The female will nest and feed while we are on the porch but the male will always wait until we go in.

They make a mess but I place plastic behind the nest to protect the wall.

Robin Nest Under Deck Again!

by Len Cole
(Uxbridge, ON Canada)

I was cooking Hamburgers for my wife and I on our back deck. I knew there was a Robins nest built on the under hang of the deck at our door entrance above my head.

I was coming in with both hands full, when she took off above my head.....well, the food went flying, and I broke a plate and ruined the food. ... We had a sandwich!

The Robin had three young ones, and we enjoyed watching them grow until their first flight.

After they left for a few days,I removed the nest. This was late May of 2009.

It is now July 13th and I have watched as a new nest has been built in the same spot. There are 2 new eggs!

Do they mate all summer?

If you have any info, let me know.

Thank you
Len Cole
Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada

Nest In Fake Tree!

by Matt Bushong
(Brisbane, California, USA)

Mama Robin in the Nest

This spring we had robins build a nest in an 8 ft. tree that is in the atrium area of the front door to our house.

At first I did not even see the nest. I saw a big mess of straw below the tree, on the patio entry way. I wondered who'd made the mess.

Then I looked up and a bird suddenly flew out of the tree... just missing my head! It was a Robin. That started our entire "Robin Family Adventure."

Everyday we would see the "mom" Robin sitting in the nest as we would leave for work or taking our son to school.

We would see the male Robin sitting in a tree farther away... chattering at us if we got too close to Momma and her nest. Momma Robin was spooked the first few times we would walk by, but then got used to us.

A few weeks later there were four blue eggs in the nest. Sometime after that the four chicks hatched!

Sadly one of the tiny chicks fell out of the nest and died. The three other chicks began to grow as mom and dad brought them worms.

We left out a small plate below the tree with meal worms, red worms and small pieces of chopped fresh strawberries. They ate well! The chicks began to grow.

Sometimes the mom and dad Robin would stay away from the nest for a while. We got worried and actually hand fed the chicks several times.

Then... when we would walk by... all three chicks would open their mouths in anticipation of food. They began to outgrow the nest and began perching on its outer ledge.

Twice one of the chicks fell out and we had to put them back in the nest. One time the entire nest fell out and we had to put it back. Still... the chicks grew and endured. Mom and Dad Robin hung in there.

All three of the chicks matured enough to fly away! We still see the young Robins in the outer trees near our house from time to time.

The interesting part of this whole Robin story is... that the tree they built their nest in was a fake tree!!! It had wood and plastic branches and silk leaves! We bought it at Target for $39.95!

Light Fixture Robins Nest

by by Linda
(Connecticut, USA)

I had two robins' nests on my house this year. One was in the front (facing south) on top of my drainpipe, and the other was on top of a light fixture on the back of the house, facing north.

I discovered the nest in the back one day when I opened my double sliding doors to go out on the deck.

I enjoy sitting out there to soak up the sunshine and read, especially in the spring before it gets too hot.

When I opened the sliding doors for the first time, I was startled by something flying from the house with a very indignant squawk.

I saw it was a robin, perched in the big maple tree in my back yard watching me, all the while continuing her very indignant screeching. Then I saw her nest.

It was perched on top of the light fixture on the back of the house, right next to the sliding back doors.

Over time, mama robin and I developed an uneasy truce. When I came out on the deck, she would fly away squawking, but once I settled down in my chaise to read, she would return to sit and incubate her eggs.

Eventually, if I moved slowly, she would stay on the nest even as I entered and exited through the sliding back doors.

Still, I often felt that mama robin didn't pick a very good place for her nest. Not only did she have to contend with my comings and goings, but because she nested on the north side, the nest was not very well protected.

There was no direct sunlight, and I was very worried about mama robin and her unhatched eggs when we had a cold spell for a couple of days and the temperature dropped into the 30's at night with a cold north wind.

The nest was not artfully built, because that wind did some damage. When I came out on the deck the next day, I saw pieces of what looked like straw or twigs hanging down from it. It was quite a mess.

Meanwhile, the nest in the front of the house was protected and had warm sunshine most of the day. It was a perfect round nest perched neatly on the drainpipe.

Nevertheless, mama robin and her chicks prevailed. Eventually I saw three hungry mouths poking up out of the nest and had a front row seat watching mama and dad taking turns guarding the nest and feeding their offspring.

Then one day, as I came out on the deck, I heard a thud. I turned to see one of the chicks out of the nest, and I was horrified to think that I had startled it and it had fallen out of the nest when I opened the sliding door.

But I soon realized that the chick had not fallen - it was ready to fly. It hopped across the deck to the back railing and flew off under the railing across the back yard to land under the arborvitae hedge.

That same day, the other two chicks also left the nest. Chick number 2 followed his sibling exactly, hopping across the deck and then flying under the railing to land under the hedge. The last chick, however, took his time.

He stood perched on top of the light fixture for a very long time. I could hear his mother in the maple tree, calling to her offspring to leave the nest.

Finally, the chick landed on the deck, but very uncertainly. He hopped, not across the deck, but sideways, and his first attempt to fly was against the cedar siding of the house which runs along one side of the deck.

He flapped his wings fruitlessly against the house, and I was afraid he'd hurt himself. But eventually he figured it out and he too followed his siblings under the railing and across the yard.

No one returned to the nest after that. But my guests sure left a mess behind, with bird poop running down the drainpipe and the side of my house under the light fixture. Even so, it was worth it to see this new life up close and personal.

Unfortunately I didn't think to take any pictures. But I've since noticed many robins in the two maple trees in my back yard, singing away, so I don't think my guests strayed very far from home.

4wheelin Robin

by Jennifer
(Orange, Vt)

I was outside this afternoon and I noticed something different about my nephews four Wheeler. There was hay curled up on the back wheel.

I went closer to see what it was and to my surprise it was a robin's nest. Apparently this robin is into ATV cause she made it her home.

Luckily he really does not use it that much. My six year old daughter thinks this is quite cool.
I told we can not touch the nest and now she wants to learn more about our new neighbors.

Stange Robin Nest Location

by Suzanne
(Hopkinsville, KY)

First for me!

For the second year in a row, a robin has made a nest on my balcony which is totally safe and sheltered. Her eggs have always survived.

Although she picked an odd place this year, it is also safe and we leave it untouched. Both years, though, she has brought in a second female to take care of her nest, eggs and baby birds when they do hatch.

Is this a normal habit for these birds. I have never seen this before but I have very limited knowledge of the habits of birds.

This year she built her nest in a frog candle holder before I could put a candle in it.