Robin
Nest Study
What
Can You Observe?
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Image:
Tom Grey
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In
most North American locations, robins nest twice each year, and three
times in some places! Can you find some robin nests in your neighborhood?
How many are in trees, and how many are on houses or other buildings?
Many bird
books state that robins build their first nest in a conifer, like
a pine or spruce, and their second and third nests in leafy
trees.
They say only the female builds the nest and incubates the eggs,
but both parents search for nesting materials and feed the nestlings
and fledglings.
Do the robins in your neighborhood follow these "rules"?
Try to keep track of the parents and their young for as long as you
can.
Observe:
For each nest,
answer as many of the following questions as you can:
- How many
eggs does the female lay?
- How many
days does it take for them to hatch?
- How many
days does it take for the nestlings to leave the nest?
- How many
babies survive to fledge?
- If the
babies didn't all survive, could you figure out for certain what happened
to them?
- Do young
robins come back into the nest after they leave it for the first time?
If so, when do they stop coming to the nest? If not, can you tell where
they spend their time?
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Image: L Birnbaum |
Something
About Survival
Did
you notice whether more babies survived in nests made on buildings
or
those made in trees? In many areas, crows take robin eggs and nestlings
to eat themselves or to feed to their young. In some areas, this presents
a serious problem
for baby robins. In most cities, crows stay away from buildings, so the
robins that nest on houses have more nesting success than robins nesting
in trees.
Build a Robin Nest Box
To encourage
robins to nest on your house and to make it easier to observe nesting
behavior, try building your own robin nest box using these plans. If you
build it in June, robins may well use it for their second nesting attempt
this year. But even if they don't, they may notice the nest box this year,
making it more likely they'll use it on their first try next year.
National
Science Education Standards
- Ask a
question about objects, organisms, events.
- Plants
and animals have life cycles that include being born, developing into
adults, reproducing, and eventually dying.
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