It’s late spring, and across the country baby or fledgling American robins are dropping out of their nests. This seems a strange way to propagate the species, but for generations adult robins have been giving fledglings a boot. They can fly a few feet, but spend most of their time on the ground.
Yesterday I watched an adult robin harass a youngster on a tree branch, forcing the baby down lower each time until he was on the ground.
It’s not just robins that raise their young this way. Common grackles and European starlings also give their youngsters a nudge out of the nest. A few days ago I had three common grackle babies on the ground under my spruce trees. As their nest is near the top of a fully mature spruce tree, the fact that they made it all the way to the ground is amazing. I took a quick peak at them, left them alone, and kept the dog out of the yard.
People are always concerned that this baby bird has fallen out of its nest and needs help. The truth is he was pushed out of the nest to get on with the business of growing up. DO NOT PICK THEM UP. Don’t take them to a zoo or wildlife rehabilitation centre.
It may seem cruel to us, but this is the way robins conduct their family life, and judging by the number of robins in the country, it works. The best thing for you to do is keep dogs and cats away while the youngster gets his bearings. He’ll move along in a little while.
Baby robins look something like their parents, but have speckled chests, and fluffy down feathers poking out here and there. Yes he looks helpless, but they manage to survive in huge numbers.
Just think of them as the true image of spring, and keep the dogs and cats away. Use their presence in your yard as an opportunity for a nature talk to the kids, which will be a lot more helpful to the birds!
I would imagine the robins are gone from the nest for this year. If they were successful in raising young though, they’ll likely be back near the same spot next year!
Great advice Pat! Nature can be quite uncanny, and I guess it is human ‘nature’ to want to lend a hand to those we perceive as helpless…as what’s not to love about birds young and old.
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The nest outside my place seems to be empty the last couple of days and I used to see mom and dad every day but now only see one of them. I saw babies for a while but now nothing. Do you know if they’ll come back?