Bird Checklists 
Breeding Bird Studies
Bird Observatory

   Bluebird Trail 
       2018
       2017       
       2016
       2015
       2014
   Green Heron
   Hawks
​   Purple Martins
​       2018
​       2017
   Robin   ​ 
   Sandhill Cranes
   Swallows

Bird Migration

Observe and  Wonder: My Experience with an American Robin Family in the Community Gardens, June 2014

by Arlene Koziol                          click on photos to enlarge. 

Am Robin with worms in its beak

When the parents were away, the chicks sat quietly hunkered down in the nest. The babies knew their parents’ sounds. While one parent went out foraging, the other stood sentinel on an elevated perch about eight feet from the nest. The returning parent with food in its beak, would stop about ten feet from the nest and give a sharp chirp. This would cause instant pandemonium at the nest, with nestlings jockeying for position. The chicks would pop up with their mouths wide open, and necks stretched and elongated as much as possible. Competition for food was fierce!

Am Robin, nestling gaping for food

While watching the Community Gardens American Robin nest, I found myself experiencing a hidden nature. I did not have to travel to an exotic locale to connect to the natural world. Fulfilling, natural experiences can be found right here at The Preserve.  

The American Robin, Turdus migratorius, is North America’s largest thrush. “Robin Red-breast” has been described as America’s favorite songbird. The American Robin is the state bird of Wisconsin, and its arrival following winter is considered an early sign of Spring.
     On a sunny mid-June morning I went for a photo walk in the Community Gardens. I came across a deserted garden plot with an American Robin’s nest constructed in a jerry-rigged sprinkler structure. Three chicks were quietly hunkered down in a cup shaped nest made of twigs, grasses and mud about 3 feet off the ground. The mud is gathered by the parents from worm castings. 
     It was a great site for me, there were no obstructions for my viewing. The birds were comfortable with  the gardeners coming and going. I set up at a safe distance with binoculars, camera with a long lens and stool. 

My initial thought was to try to photograph one feeding. It proved to be so fascinating, I observed for three mornings.

The Community Gardens nest  site was a very busy place. The scene was intense, with life and death issues at stake. The parents returned to the nest with worms, insects or berries every 5-15 minutes. Ornithologist Laura Erickson says each nestling can eat up to 14 feet of earthworms in its two week nest period. Each day the chicks  eat and demand more and more food. Both parents feed the chicks from sunrise to sunset. Eventually the chicks will eat whole worms and insects, putting pressure on the parents to find food  even faster.  Baby robins grow fast. In just two weeks they are the size of their parents. Summer is a short season and parents have two to four nests of babies to raise. 

Both parents watching from the fence

     The sentinel parent would survey the landscape, turning its head to look for what I presume to be danger. The sentinel gave a response sharp chirp, and the foraging parent flew quickly to the side of the nest. The action at the nest intensified with each nestling trying to get closest to the foraging parent’s bill. Quickly, one or more nestlings were fed. The babies would continue to beg, even if they had a mouthful of food. 
    With each feeding, the nestlings would produce a  neat fecal sac, enclosed in a membrane. The parent removed the fecal sac as soon as it was excreted from the cloaca, and gulped it down. This is an adaptation of most passerine (perching) birds, to prevent fouling of the nest. It also helps keep the nest hidden from predators. White feces surrounding a nest site is a sure way to direct predators to baby birds. 
    Our common birds know everything about what it is to survive in their environment. We can learn a lot from our common birds, even the House Sparrow.  An ornithologist friend of mine, Peter Lowther,has been studying House Sparrows in his backyard since 1988. Below is a link to a Peter’s video, “The Birds in My Backyard”.  
    
References
The Birds of North America Online-Cornell Lab of Ornithology and American Ornithologist’s Union. American Robin, Turdus migratorious,
Authors Sallabanks, Rex and Francis C. James.