The Happy Family

Maria, requested and we aim to please here at the home of the robins. First off, they’re getting very big, and soon will be forced from the nest, to live on the ground, where they will practice using their wings and learning to fly. Their father will stay with them there while their mother will lay the next set of eggs in the nest. We’re a little nervous about this stage as we have lawn care, so are keeping a close eye, so we can put up some sort of temporary fence/warning signs to keep the lawn service from mowing the lawn in that area.

Here’s a shot of them, hanging in the nest – can you see the wings? How about the open eyes?

Here’s a shot of mom feeding the “teenagers.” Sometimes she gives them entire worms. They’re big enough now so we can actually watch from our family room window which is just a few feet from the tree. She doesn’t seem to mind.
Do you know, it’s not the sound of the mother returning that initiates the open mouth reflex of the babes, it’s the vibration of her landing on the nest. Baby robins are born with three basic instincts, 1) to open their mouths when the mom returns 2) to lay low in the nest, avoiding predators, 3) to poop as soon as they eat. Kind of gross, no? But really, they poop these white sacks (fecal sacs I think they’re called), that the mother picks up and removes from the nest. It’s how the nest stays so clean.

Here’s one more of mom and her babes:

So how is that?