BillBow's Bird Journal

This past May, stuff got serious between a local pair of young robins. When one thing led to another and, as so often happens, the couple found itself in the family way (safe sex is practically unheard of among turdus migratorius), construction quickly began on a nest beneath the overhang of our roof. I documented the joyous event as the expecting mother laid and incubated a quartet of perfect blue eggs.

Things happen fast in the world of birds, and within two weeks the featherless, rubbery robin babies were already poking through their shells.

Alas, before the final egg could hatch, tragedy struck. I awoke one morning to find the nest toppled and the three chicks lifeless on the deck. A shattered shell and a smear of yolk was all that remained of the fourth. I suspect the nest was ransacked by the cowbirds I'd been seeing around the yard, villains that they are. It was sad, yes, but also a reminder that nature don't fuck around, and it surely doesn't give a rip about our feelings. It's rough out there, and the fact is only 25% of baby robins ever live to see November.

With that grim statistic in mind, it's been nice to see several juvenile robins zipping and hopping around the yard, including this bespeckled beauty I spotted today casually taking in the morning sights and sounds with its (I presume) mother. Luckily, they perched long enough for me to snap a pretty crappy picture.



What motherly wisdom was being passed down here, I cannot say. Perhaps parent and offspring were simply enjoying a peaceful moment together, grateful they had thus far navigated the many perils of suburban living.

Bird log, 07/27/2020

Mourning dove
Downy woodpecker
Eastern wood-pewee
Blue jay
American crow
Black-capped chickadee
White-breasted nuthatch
House wren
Eastern bluebird
American robin
House sparrow
House finch
Song sparrow
Red-winged blackbird
Common grackle
Northern cardinal
Red-bellied woodpecker
Gray catbird

nwb


Robin in nest courtesy of Alexandra Hidalgo