Baby Robins

When a robin started building a nest on top of the wreath by our front door, my husband wanted to knock it down. I talked him out of it, thinking it might be kind of fun to watch the eggs hatch and then see the babies grow. Little did I know what a great learning opportunity it would be for my students! I started taking pictures as soon as the nest was done, and each day I would e-mail the pictures to school and put them up on the Smartboard for the kids to see. To take the pictures, I had to climb up on a bench, hold my camera over my head, and snap the picture without seeing what I was getting.

April 30 - the nest is complete,

and the eggs are laid. We "googled" baby robins at school and learned that usually a mother robin lays four eggs over several days time.

Mama spent the next week sitting on the nest, keeping the eggs warm through some pretty cold weather.

Day 1
May 9th - I just took a chance and snapped a picture right after school to see if anything had happened yet, and to my surprise, there were two tiny baby robins. I wondered where the egg shells were, and we found out that the mother cleans out the nest right after the eggs hatch.

By later that night, there was a tiny hole in the 3rd egg. The babies have an "egg tooth" that they use to peck a hole in the shell.

Day 2
May 10th - the 3rd egg hatched during the night. This was taken at about 6:30 in the morning.

By afternoon, the babies were a little bit stronger, but really scrawny and ugly.

Late that night, the 4th egg was beginning to crack.

Day 3

May 11th - early in the morning, all four babies are alive and well!

Aren't they cute??

Mama robin was waiting in the grass with a mouthful of worms to feed the hungry little babies.

Day 4

May 12th - the babies are covered with fuzz, and their eyes are HUGE!

Day 5

May 14th - tiny feathers are starting to grow.

Day 6

May 15th -the nest is beginning to fill up, and wing feathers are growing!

Day 8

May 17th - I finally caught one with its mouth open, and the eyes are becoming little slits.

Ah, one eye almost open!

Mama is very protective late at night, and she lets me get really close without flying away.

Day 9

May 18th - their eyes are all the way open, the fuzz has almost completely disappeared, and feathers are getting bigger and bigger!

The nest is getting crowded!

Mama watches me very closely whenever I come out the door. See the ruffled feathers on her belly? She actually has a bear spot where her feathers separate so she can get her bare skin up against her babies and keep them warmer during cold nights.

Day 10

May 19th - the babies peek out from under mama (about 11:00 p.m.)

Day 11

May 20th - early morning cuddles,

and late night stretches. They are getting so big!

Mama really has to stretch to keep them somewhat covered!

Day 12

May 20 - looks like they might be poised for take-off!

Mama is still ready with more juicy worms.

Day 13

May 21 - hog pile! The tail feathers are in, and the nest is overflowing! It won't be long now!

Day 14

May 22 - lift off! I was gone all day, and when I got home in the late afternoon, I immediately checked the nest. Two birds remained, and as soon as I got close, they both took off. It was so cool to see them fly! One landed briefly in the grass and I was able to snap a quick picture before he scooted away for good. Mama was very angry with me, and dive-bombed me several times as I ducked to keep out of the way.

The nest is EMPTY!

I had the kids predict when the babies would fly, and we made a chart with tally marks of their guesses. Three students guessed the 22nd!
We ALL learned a lot about baby robins!

Now it's time for me to clean up my front entry. :-)