Robin's nest. Risky or not?

[Andi]

Look what I discovered in the yard this morning. A pair of robin's hard at work building a nest........in a bird feeder. (Sorry its so blurry. I had to take the pic from quite a distance so I didn't spook them away.)

What caught my attention is seeing a robin at a bird feeder. Granted its a broken bird feeder that I haven't put seed in other than suet cakes this last Winter.

We've recently had some wicked winds come through and I wonder if this couple was in the process of building a nest and it blew down. So, even though this may be at a closed avian diner, it sure is sturdy. I guess risk is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[dichotomymom]

I've still got a robin's nest from 3 years ago sitting where she put it on the beam of our open porch. We're on the Indiana prairie and get crazy winds so I bet she'll be fine

 

[ebwy]

wow I never realised how much difference there was between american robins and our robins here...

 

[Mandalina]

i would leave her be

 

[Andi]

Quote:
I didn't realize they would be different either. I went and looked it up and they are quite a bit different. The American robin is in the Thrush family and the European robin is in the Flycatcher family. The Australian robin is in yet another family. Interesting. One thing they all have in common is a red breast.

 

[chicmom]

That is so precious! When I was young, there was a robin that always built a nest on the top of the beams of my front porch, or in the bush right near the porch and I could look right into the nest. I was just fascinated by the robins and I think that's where my love for birds started.

My parents had robins build a nest right in the wreath on their front door. They tolerated the mess until the birds left.......nature is just awesome!

ENJOY IT!

 

[Andi]

UPDATE:

The first egg got laid yesterday (Memorial Day)!

I seriously didn't think they were going to keep the nest there. Its in such an exposed location and right on the walkway between the house and the driveway. That and the shut-off for the hose is on the post the feeder is on.

When we noticed they were continuing with nest building we went and bought a hose shut off that we can put at the opposite end of the hose. The hose is staying strung out in the yard. It will be a bit annoying during mowing, but its not like it'll be that way all Summer.

We decided to block the walkway past there for now also. We now have to go the far way around the house, but that's alright. The robin pair is still nervous when ever we are in straight eye shot of the nest. This is definitely not an aggressive pair, so we need to give them their space so they don't abandon the nest.

When I was watching them do the mud stage of the nest construction I got a little giggle in. You know how birds going to bird feeders attracts the attention of other birds that there's food in the feeder? Well, while momma was getting her mud positioned just right (which she does buy getting in the nest and pressing her body against it), a family of sparrows flies in. The momma sparrow lands on the feeder right behind momma robin squishing mud in. The confused look on momma sparrows face was priceless. I suppose she was expecting the feed to be there and finds a bunch of sticks, mud and grass with a non-bird seed eating bird sitting right smack dab inside. That momma sparrow stood there for a good 20 seconds (momma robin didn't notice her) before flying off with the kids quickly behind her. It kinda reminded me of a time I was going to bring my kids to a place I had fond memories of, only to get there, after getting my kids all excited about the adventure, and then find out the place isn't there anymore. The youngster sparrows were playing at the base of the feeder/nest box with each other and looking oblivious to what was going on, much like my kids did.

I'm toying with the idea of removing the screen from one of the kitchen windows. I think that style window I will be able to remove the screen from inside the house. It will be great viewing from that window because its only about 10-12' from the nest. With a little luck I'll be able to get some good pics, too!