How Long Before Baby Robins Leave The Nest

American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

Nest building

American Robins pair-bond during the breeding flavour. Females are primarily robin eggs photo by Tim Knight responible for building the nest that is fabricated of twigs, mud and lined with dry grass. Sometimes the nest volition accept string or ribbon that the robins notice in nearby (view nest photo). The robin nest may too take lichens and moss collected from trees.

Nest location and size

The bowl-shaped nests are built in a bush-league, tree or under the eaves of buildings - v to 25 feet off the ground. The nest is 6 inches across and 4 to 6 inches high. The rounded inside area of the nest is about 3.5 to iv inches in bore, which is large enough to hold a baseball (see photo below).

To be successful, the robin nest must last for more that a month, safely hold 4 growing birds and provide insulation from the heat and cold. Call back of the nest every bit a baby incubator with the female person robin providing the rut required for the immature to develop within the egg. The female continues to sit down on the nest for 10-12 days later on all the nestlings hatch. She keeps the nestlings warm, safety and dry.

Reusing nests

Sometimes the nests are reused. 1 nest was congenital on top of a old robin's nest that was synthetic three years ago. So, if y'all observe an old bird nest it'due south a good idea to go out information technology alone.

One creative robin used parts of an erstwhile nest for building a sturdy nest under the eave of a business firm. The female sampled a few locations earlier deciding to build her nest in a hidden location that was well protected from air current and rain. Nest location is critical in a rainy expanse like Seattle. The nest included lichens nerveless from a maple tree and small twigs from a hemlock tree located near the house.

The nest building process took almost two days to consummate.

Robin eggs

The female typically lays 2 to four light blue eggs - nearly the size and weight of a quarter (see photo). The female person incubates the eggs over a 2-week period and both parents care for the immature. The eggs have around two weeks to hatch and the chicks will fledge when they are about 12 to fourteen days old. The female may produce two broods of young each yr. The young are born with their eyes shut and first open their eyes around v days after hatching.

Protecting the nest

Both parents aggressively defend the nest area. They emit a series of warning calls that distract predators. When the nestlings hear the alarm call, they duck downwardly low in the nest and remain silent so they to become undetected by predators (including crows). When the female is sitting on the nest she is silent and moves slowly since she doesn't want predators to find the nest. During feeding, the young make chirping sounds just these calls can only exist heard a brusque distance away.

Picket Out!

Male robins are well known for dive-bombing people and predators inside ten anxiety of a nest. The birds volition dive downwardly close to your head to and call loudly to describe your attention away from the nest site.

Keeping the nest clean

The nestlings poop after every feeding - that's a lot of waste!

But the nest is very clean, and so where does all the waste go?

Nestlings produce a "fecal sac" - a white bundle of poop - after each feeding.

After the nestling eats a worm, they lift up their rear and excrete the white sac which is nerveless in the neb of the adult bird.

Fecal sacs are similar disposable diapers for birds!

Sometimes the parent carries the fecal sac away in their beak and drops it far from the nest. Other times the adult swallows the fecal sac at the nest site - yuk. Apparently, the parents may eat the sacs for actress nutrition.

The sac is removed from the nest by the parents to continue the nest clean. This behavior helps to reduce exposure to pathogens and parasites, or odors that can lead to predation.

Photos of American Robin male, female and juvenile.

Source: This information is based on direct observations by Tim Knight of 4 nest sites in Seattle, Washington. Robin behavior and nesting activeness can vary with location.

More than information:

Removing Fecal Sacs