"You know you have nesting robins nearby when your bird bath suddenly gets very dirty, says Sarah Roney Dalton. "That's her cleaning herself up after shaping her nest with her chest." With mud, the female can use her chest to push and shape the nest into a deep, round, curved bowl. She wants her nest snug so her body heat doesn't leak out. That's how she keeps the eggs—and then babies—warm underneath her.
Photo: Wayne Kryduba
