May 1, 2008
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Nestling Developments
Here’s a slightly clearer picture of our robin acquaintance. She’s putting up with us a bit more now that her eggs have hatched.
Robins ignore their first egg or two for a day after they are laid. Then they lay another egg or two. This way, they can be sure that all the eggs will hatch at basically the same time, giving all the hatchlings the best chance of survival. So, a couple of days ago, this situation obtained in the nest:
And then, next time we peeked:
Four absurd hatchlings! Can you even sort them out? They have dark eye capsules and darkish stubs where their wings will be. Have you ever seen such helpless little objects? Thank goodness for the robin mama, is all I can say.
We disturb the robin as little as possible, but once a day I have to open the front door (or come around the front) to get the newspaper and check my mail. So that’s when my husband takes pictures. While he stretches up, standing on the porch railing and steadying the camera on the porch ceiling, the robin disapproves of us from a nearby tree branch, as follows:
I feel thoroughly Taken a Dim View Of, don’t you?
CG
Comments (6)
Those are sooooo amazing. How does the egg survive for the first day or 2 while the robin ignores it? I have to wonder how those eggs fit inside that tiny bird!!!! Guess the same way my gargantuan children once fit inside me
. Amazing!
@newbie2005 -
Well, I think that her time off the nest just slows their development a bit, so that the next eggs won’t be too far behind them in hatching. If the eggs all hatch at the same(ish) time, then they have a better chance of survival. A weak nestling can easily be out-maneuvered by a too-precocious sibling. I honestly think that one of the biggest threats to a nestling is its nestmates.
I’ve seen four house finches fledge from one of our front-porch nests, but never four robins. So we’ll see what happens!
How precious. Yeah, Mom ain’t happy with you.
Those pictures are wonderful! Nothing says spring like ugly bird babies!
Are they making lots of noise yet?
@tlm0000 -
No sound yet at all! But I will try to get a movie of them once they start up a racket.
The babies are amazing, but so too is the craftsmanship that goes into those nests! It’s a work of art all by itself, and to think such a tiny little bird scouted each piece of straw! It boggles the mind, doesn’t it??