We Have Robin Eggs- er, fledglings

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’ve never run into the proverbial lost baby bird before.

I was outdoors, and there was this bird that was walking around the lawn, making sad cheeping noises and opening its mouth in classic begging position and omigod I think it’s a baby robin, what do I do?

I remembered the old wives’ tale about how if you touch a baby bird the mother won’t recognize the scent, but I also remember that it’s not true because birds have a poor sense of smell. I couldn’t remember if that meant you should or should not pick up lost fledglings.

I picked it up and held it up, so the parents would see it better. I know that does not make a whole lot of sense, but I was sorta panicking on the bird’s behalf and I wasn’t thinking too clearly.

I went back inside and shouted, “There’s a lost baby bird here, anyone know what I should do?”, but there was no one in hearing distance.

I went back and the poor thing was still hopping around crying, so I thought I would feed it. I dug up a big fat worm, but it was much too big. I dug up a smaller worm, and after a few tries it managed to swallow. (No, wait, swallows are a different type of bird).

It ran into the woods, and I couldn’t follow, so I just went back in and hoped the parents would come and get it. A quick Googling told me that yes, it was a robin, and I was really stupid for picking it up like that and such.

How do the parents get them back in the nests? It couldn’t really fly, just hop and flutter a couple of feet in the air. The mother is going to come back after it, right? I hope it’s okay.

I’m not thinking very straight right now.

2

Typically they don’t go back to the nest. Songbird nests are dangerous predator attractions and are generally abandoned as soon as is feasible. If said baby could stand on its own, it is a fledgling and should be fine. The parents will find him on the ground and continue to nurse him along. I just had the same experience with a Brown Towhee fledgling and he hung out in a bush next to my house for a week or two until strong enough to depart.

It could always end up being snatched up by a predator anyway of course. But them’s the breaks - baby bird mortality can be high.

ETA: A cite for you from the Cornell lab - FAQs & Common Problems | All About Birds

3

At that stage of development - out of the nest, hopping and so forth - usually the parents are hanging around and will come by to feed it. But not while you’re around… They can’t get the fledglings back in the nest, so they take care of them on the ground.

4

Okay, thanks. I was worried.

5

See I like it when things get solved in just a few comments. I was all worried too but it all worked out

6

By the way, Robin Eggs is the name I used to write songs under.

7

Hope there wasn’t a cat around. :frowning:

8

At the time? I don’t know. In the summer, Mystery divides her time between sleeping indoors and eviscerating small furry animals outdoors.

9

Every year we see, or rather hear, young robins and their parents, on the fence or on the deck. (This is the time the cat is quarantined in the house.) The fledglings make such a racket! The parents bring them food. One time we watched the young one taking his first few clumsy flights. It’s a precarious time for them. But there are a lot of robins around!

10

I’m disappointed that this thread has no pictures.

11

Um… here’s my cat.