I am completely flummoxed over this robin family (1 Viewer)

Actually, it's the baby(s). Sorry it's kind of a long story but I don't know much about birds-specifically, why they do the things they do. I was hoping someone could help me figure it out.

Our story began on Monday, Memorial Day. We needed our backyard tree trimmed for the upcoming hurricane season. You can probably guess what happened next-we disturbed a robin's nest we didn't know was there. I found two baby birds on the ground, one slightly bigger than the other. The nest was also there, albeit damaged. We left them there until the trimmers were finished, just putting them together and placing the nest beside them while covering them with a stepstool to keep the sun off them. We did go out and give them some distilled water via a dropper and some pieces of chopped up worm, which they eagerly accepted. They weren't hatchlings, but they weren't fledglings either. I just learned the word fledglings so I hope I'm using it correctly-meaning they weren't anywhere near ready to fly.
So anyway once the tree trimmers left we tried to figure out what to do. We decided to first off repair the nest, so my guy cut a section out of a milk jug and somehow tie-wrapped it all together to patch the hole. Then he tie-wrapped it into a low fork in the tree it had just come out of, since whatever branch it was on was gone. He then put the babies in it (he wore disposable gloves) and we went inside and waited. We were afraid the parents wouldn't come back since the nest had been moved and the tree was so different, not to mention the nest was significantly closer to the house-right outside the kitchen window, to be exact. Not only that, I have turtles in pens outside and am going out there several times a day to care for them. My son swings in the backyard often, too. No one paid any attention to the babies but we did do what we had to do. Near sunset, we saw the parents come back. We were very very happy to see that. Mama bird was sitting on the nest that night and we really thought everything would be okay.
The next afternoon, I went out to tend to turtle business and found one of the babies far from the nest, dead. I was shocked. We figured maybe it got so stressed from the day before that mama had kicked it out or something. We were saddened, but the other baby seemed to be doing well-we'd see both parents fly up to the nest and the mouth of that remaining baby over the top of it while they fed it. Still somewhat happy that it seemed the parents would have at least one surviving baby.
This morning, Wednesday, we observed something quite unbelievable-the remaining baby jumped out of the nest. On its own. My guy put it back, but it kept jumping out. I got to comparing him to pictures I pulled up on the computer of birds ready to leave the nest, and it doesn't look like them, so we couldn't figure out why it kept doing that. (I have pictures, if I can figure out how to put them here) It wasn't at all as accomodating to us as it was just 2 days earlier-it was trying to bite and screeching and we knew we were stressing it out, but there are cats in the area. (We'd also put up some old fencing left over from building turtle pens around the fork in the tree the nest was in to keep cats and other predators from climbing up, so the babies were safe in that regard) It just kept jumping out again and again. We put it in a milk crate in another tree further from the house. The parents are visiting it again. We now assume that's what happened to the first bird we saw dead yesterday. Mama didn't kick it out, it jumped out, and because it wasn't ready to leave the nest, it died.
My question is this: Why did the babies jump so soon? We were so worried about how the parents were going to react to all the things we did, it never occurred to us what the babies might think or do. They seemed fine, I figured they wouldn't eat or drink if they were in shock. Parents were visiting them, taking care of them in their new location, and babies just sit in the nest so what do they know or care of their location? We were wondering if the babies jumped ship because they didn't want to be there or something. We never bothered them once the parents came back. Do they have some way of telling, different smells or sounds or something that they weren't used to, that were freaking them out so they tried to abandon their own nest???
Please correct me if I'm wrong in any of the conclusions we've tried to arrive at concerning the baby's actions. I know next to nothing about birds and was really proud of what we'd accomplished. We just knew everything was going to be okay once we saw that the parents apparently had accepted the move and were taking care of their offspring. It just seems so strange that the babies themselves would be the ones essentially committing suicide.
Is this common? Has anyone else seen this happen?

Okay, I'm just here temporarily to see what others thought of this situation and won't become a regular or anything. I will bookmark this page but if I can't remember to check in again please just email me at [email protected]. Thanks.

The young of many birds--including American Robins--leave the nest long before they’re ready to fly. Once they’ve done this, they’re no longer "nestlings" but are “fledglings”. It sounds like your bird is at this stage. If so there’s very little you can do about it, since the whole process is controlled by instinct & the youngster will keep jumping out of the nest whether there are cats about or not. As far as what to do is concerned, you could take it in & try & raise it yourself (or get it to a vet or rehabber if you can find one willing to do the work) or you could just let nature take its course (which is probably what I would do in your shoes). Natural or not, it’s always sad to see these appealing young creatures come to grief.

Hi, I found my way back again! lol
How do baby birds survive at all when they leave the nest too soon? I don't understand. I didn't realize it was common to do this; I thought these babies did it because of everything that had happened. Like maybe they were so stressed the first day but after a few days of getting back to rights they were still thinking "No way in hades I want to be here, I'm out!"
I just don't see how any babies survive at all not being able to fly even a few feet up in the air. This little guy's tail feathers are barely sprouting; he still has some bald spots between the wings and body. Do you think it was something they'd have done anyway, leaving so early, or do you think it was what happened to them that caused them to jump ship so soon?
I am feeling really really bad about the whole thing. I don't think he'll eat from me now; he was so wild acting when we put him back in his nest, much more like I'd expect him to act and much different than he acted on Monday, when he fed from us with no problem. I figure maybe they were disoriented Monday and just did the instinctual thing, but by now with some time passed now he's back to his wild self and freaked out.
I just don't know what to do now. The parents are still around, but I can't tell now if they're trying to feed the baby or what. They're too far away to tell.
I'm afraid he's going to be a casualty like his sibling was. (

Well, the story is that most young robins are going to die anyway (if they didn’t the world would soon be swimming in robins) & that their chances are somewhat better if they’re not all in the same place (for example, the nest) where if discovered by a predator the whole brood would be lost, not just one individual. So, for this reason, robins & many other songbirds leave the nest & scatter over the landscape as soon as they’re able to survive the night without being brooded by their parents. Some of course might still be found & eaten by predators, but with luck some won’t be & will have a chance at survival. The parents don’t abandon the fledglings at this stage, but continue to look after them until they’re able to fly & can fend for themselves.

What appears to have happened at your nest, is that the fledging process was disrupted as a result of the disturbance you inadvertently caused & that the surviving baby now “considers” the nest to have been discovered by a predator & to be no longer safe. The relevant instincts develop remarkably fast: yesterday the baby “regarded” the nest as still safe, but today--when it’s 24 hours closer to maturity--it’s “changed its mind” & now resists going back to the nest. The baby , of course, is incapable of thinking any of this through, but is simply “playing the odds” as it’s been evolved to do.

I wouldn’t feel too bad about your role in all this, by the way. Similar scenarios are being played out as we speak in 1000s & 1000s of backyards all over North America but robins continue to flourish. And a cause for optimism in the case of your fledgling, is that the parents are still around & will certainly attempt to feed it if circumstances allow.

Thank you fugl, I feel a little better. I did not know this was a common practice among these types of birds, even though I still feel we certainly didn't help things! The parents are still around, but we'll see what happens tomorrow-we'll be gone most of the day. I'm dreading what we might come home to. *sigh*

Thanks again for your words. I appreciate it. I wish some of the 5o-something people it says viewed this thread would have weighed in too, but them's the breaks! haha I get it, sometimes you just don't have anything to say, or the person who is talking (typing) is saying it all anyway.

Still, hello to all you lurkers, and if I knew a darn thing about birds I might stick around, but as it is there really isn't a reason to. I like birds well enough but would never own one (I prefer a much hardier and easier to handle turtle myself!) and barely know the basic sounds of some-blue jay, crow, dove, mockingbird, and woodpeckers. That's about it.

Y'all have a great day, great life, and fun with your birds. Hit me up if you're ever interested in box turtles! haha:t: :flyaway:

Update: That next day we were gone most of the day....we checked in the morning and the baby was there, but the crate was all pooped up, so we had decided to change out the cardboard liner inside once we got home even though we knew he wouldn't like it. We even left early from where we were so we would still have enough daylight when we got home.
Sadly, the bird was gone when we got in. The crate had tipped to the point that he was apparently able to hop out....and by watching the parents, we surmised that the baby was in an adjacent yard. They were there the rest of that day but since the following morning, we haven't seen hide nor hair (or feather!) of either the baby or the parents. We think the baby met with an untimely end and the parents just left.
The whole experience from a human's viewpoint was horrible. I hope we don't have to trim a tree for a long time, and if we do I hope we don't interrupt anything. The message I left with our local animal shelter was never even returned. They truly don't care, at least around here. We thought we had done really good by this family, and were shocked at the strange turn of events. I hate these outcomes. HATE them. (

Sorry for the sad ending & I know how you feel. I lost a Mourning Dove fledgling--to a stray cat--in my front yard earlier in the spring & am still kicking myself for not having done more to protect it. At least you tried.