American Robins are so common that we can easily take them for granted.
But All About Birds enumerates the daunting odds that make any robin’s survival quite incredible. On average:
- only 40% of nests successfully produce young
- only 25% of those fledged young survive to November
- about half of the robins alive in any year will make it to the next
Recent events on Little Crum Creek give witness to these numbers.
By the time we discovered a May nest in the holly bush, it retained only one of the usual 3-5 robin’s eggs.
Before long there were none.
Soon, however, at least two nearby chicks fledged from other nests.
Wobbling, hopping, and flailing newly feathered wings when disturbed, these grounded fledglings mostly waited for their frequent feedings.
Partly hidden by grass, each depended on parents to gather and deliver worms & insects throughout the day.
In a few days, each fumbled toward denser coverage in the creekside brush where occasional chirps alerted parents to their locations.
Soon I lost track, assuming the chirping calls had either blended with the chorus of all summer birds or gone silent.
But nearly a week later, a novice flier bounded across the yard chirping and chasing adult robins who did their best to ignore or escape the tireless pursuit.
Undiminished, the youngster called & called until a mentor relented, perched beside it for a moment, and flew up into the mulberry tree.
The smaller followed for a generous serving of beak-fed fruit.
Surely every robin embodies an extraordinary history of parenting, skill, perseverance, and luck that it cannot take for granted.
Surely every robin deserves a spot in the sun.
August 25, 2011 at 10:21 pm
Loved the last photograph. What a great story about the pictures. I really enjoyed this blog. I’m glad you found my blog, I’ll be back to look through more of your photographs. 🙂
August 28, 2011 at 10:24 pm
Sounds good! I’ll do the same.
June 28, 2011 at 9:57 pm
Hey Jan, thanks for including that link to Cottonmouth Creek … I knew you had another blog but couldn’t find it! (You might consider including a link to it under the “Personal Links” section of your Gravatar profile).
June 27, 2011 at 6:17 pm
That last photo has to be the most unique robin photo I’ve seen 🙂
They are truly a lot of fun to watch.
June 27, 2011 at 7:32 pm
I’d like do a whole post of those funky poses, but the robins seem extra-sensitive about being watched in that situation. This is the only image I’ve managed to capture.
June 27, 2011 at 11:34 am
I love this post! I have three mockingbird nests in a small tree in my front yard. The last month or so I noticed there a passel of young ‘uns fluttering and chirping around the front yard. Learning to fly, foraging for bugs after a storm and just making racket on the lower branches.
Just one of the reasons I keep my cats inside.
Congrats on the great pix!
Jan
June 27, 2011 at 5:31 pm
Thanks, Jan. Did the mockingbirds seem as helpless as these robins? I’m amazed that any of these little birds survive several days and nights on the open ground.
June 27, 2011 at 11:05 pm
Scott, when I noticed them they were flying but they were smaller & much noisier than mom & dad. There was also some sibling squabbling when they happened upon the same bug in the grass.
I noticed the primary nest several years ago when I found a broken egg on the ground. One of my (now indoor) cats was an outdoor stray at the time and I wondered if any baby birds would successfully leave the nest. I guess it turned out OK since somebody lives in the tree year round and there are two more nests.
Here’s a link to my mockingbird pictures. http://cottonmouthcreek.wordpress.com/2010/03/16/looking-for-spring/
Wish I could get the nests, but they are so tangled in the branches it’s hard to get them in focus with my little camera.
Jan
June 27, 2011 at 9:46 am
Love your photos, especially that last one, what an awesome shot to get!
June 27, 2011 at 10:42 am
Thanks, Donna. I thought of you, Olivia, Oliver, & the chicks while hiding out waiting to get those feeding shots.
Like that last pic, I find robins striking all kinds of funny poses in the grass & sun (anyone know what they’re up to?).