Dead baby robins - advice please (1 Viewer)

AnnaUK · Jun 13, 2015

Hi,

I've just joined this forum after a very sad morning, in the hope of receiving some advice.

Robins' nest was built in the ivy next to my patio, about 5 feet from the ground and covered by the ivy leaves. Three babies, I believe due to fledge in about 5 days.

I've bought live mealworms, put them on the patio and have watched mum and dad being amazing parents. Saw them going to the nest with food at 9 o'clock Friday evening.

Saturday morning at 11 I went to put more food out and found the three babies dead on the ground. One immediately under the nest and the other two about 5 feet away on the lawn, which was devastating.

Small garden surrounded by full height fences. Haven't seen a cat here for ages, a squirrel visits occasionally to take fat balls from the other end of the garden but haven't seen it for well over a week. Crows fly over, saw a magpie on a nearby fence yesterday and a red hawk regularly flies over this area but the nest can't be seen from the garden or from above.

I'm perplexed because if the nest was predated then why haven't the babies been taken away or eaten? One is 'untouched' and two of them look as though something may have had a go at them but this could have been after they were on the ground.

We had heavy rain last night but the nest is intact and well protected by the ivy. Mum and dad are around and have taken beakfuls of mealworms this afternoon and flown into a nearby tree with them, presumably a bit confused as to what they're doing.

I have photos of the three babies on the ground - not nice but if it would be useful to post them.

Any ideas as to what may have happened here? Many thanks if anyone can help.

Anna

KC Foggin · Jun 13, 2015

Hi Anna and a warm welcome to you from the entire staff here at BirdForum

Sorry to hear this and, like you, the fact that they are dead and not consumed is puzzling. I do know that I lost a nest box full of Bluebird babies due to a snake last year. The parents panicked and deserted the nest box leaving the babies to die.

Hopefully, someone will be along with some thoughts on this.

AnnaUK · Jun 13, 2015

Thank you for your welcome post.

Only thing I know about the mystery is that it wouldn't have been a snake here in England. I hope someone may read this who has way more knowledge than I have.

Elmer Fudd · Jun 15, 2015

Hello Anna!

Welcome to the forum.

It would be a great help if you post the pictures.

What about the nest itself? Is it free from invading insects like ants? Someone here in the forum lately had some problems with ants in a wren's nest.

Are there any rats around? But normally rats don't kill just for fun but for food.

AnnaUK · Jun 15, 2015

Thank you Elmer.

Never seen a rat here in 17 years. The nest is free from invading insects although I don't know if it was at the time. Certainly I've seen no ants at all in that area. I will post the photos - apart from being dead, the babies are wet from the rain. My best guess is that they were about 8 days old. When I went to bury them, one of the two on the lawn was without one of its legs which I found about 6 inches away.

Very unusually, the next day I did see a cat leave the garden. However, the nest is 5 feet up and there appears to be no disturbance of the ivy surrounding and covering it. The babies could hardly be heard at feeding times even from the patio itself. Also posted a photo of the nest site which is in the centre close to the top.

AnnaUK · Jun 15, 2015

Elmer,

To confuse things further, 24-36 hours before the incident, a more mature baby was seen on my patio and photographed by my partner - about 8 feet from the nest in question. Photo below and I'm pretty sure it's a robin. No idea how it got there, as I said there are full height fences surrounding my garden and I've seen no adult robins in my garden or neighbours other than the mum and dad of the three little babies.

I came home later in the evening when the bigger baby had been seen and caught sight of the two parents chasing something in the area of the nest which hopped up into a different part of the ivy and I assumed it was another adult bird too close to their nest but was probably this older baby - I just didn't see. The older baby hasn't been seen since.

Anna

coaltit · Jun 15, 2015

Hello Anna and welcome to birdforum, lots of mystery and Intrigue there regarding your nesting robins, The red Hawk you mentioned most likely a male kestrel I,m more than certain is not one of the predators you mentioned, Thee others you mentioned one of them is the likely candidate, I,ve had them all predate either eggs or Fledgelings out of their nests in my garden over the years thou of all birds I have had more luck with robins in a Similar location (green) not varigated Ivy and blue tits in nest boxes, I can,t be 100% but I would say from the Predation I have had in my garden, where the youngsters have been scattered out of the nest either a cat or a Squirrel probable culprits thou at least one youngster would have been taken as food on Occasions, where eggs are Involved any squirrel would take them, as would a magpie or crow the latter two Predators I would expect would return to take any young left in the nest If they could get at them, the other Youngster coincidently must be from another pair ending up in another pair of robins territory not a good Outcome for this youngster at all and no parents present? The older youngster may have got away from there Hopefully to join up with his family fingers crossed.

Ian Lewis · Jun 15, 2015

Hello Amanda,

I think the answer to your situation is that the young 'exploded' from the nest. This means that a predator or something disturbed the nest and the young prematurely fledged as a means of escape. If there was rain soon after that would explain why some died. Ringers who ring nestlings are trained not to go near a nest with well grown chicks because of the risk of 'exploding'. This activity is thought to have some evolutionary benefit as some young may survive, whilst all would have died if a predator found them. The more mature fledgling Robin seen earlier most likely came from a different nest.

Its always upsetting to loose young birds on your property, I had two prematurely fledged Jackdaws on my lawn after the strong winds last week. I found one dead a few days later, the other is still being fed by it's parents.

On average up to 90% of small birds in temperate regions die in their first year and up to 50% of adults. If a pair of birds raise ten young per year this means at the start of the next breeding season the 12 birds that were around the in the summer are down to a pair, the same as was there at the start of the previous breeding season, thus keeping the population in balance. I know there are exceptions to this rule but it is true in many cases.

Ian

AnnaUK · Jun 15, 2015

Hi coaltit and thank you for your ideas.

My mistake in mentioning a red hawk - I meant a red kite which is overhead often, and sometimes with its mate. We're not far from the Chilterns where they are found.

I think probably your cat explanation is the most likely, especially as I saw one leaving my garden the next day although after a long time of no cats being seen so it's definitely not a regular visitor. But probably the only one of the suspects that would have killed for the hell of it and not to eat. Puzzling how it would have known of the nest which is completely hidden. The mum and dad took such care scouring the garden for predators before being seen to go into the nest every time, so I don't think they would have gone in and identified the nest as being there at any time a cat was seen in my very small garden.

Also no apparent disturbance of the ivy which I would have thought would be there if a cat had climbed 5 feet up the fence and invaded the nest. I suppose it's just one of those things that I'll never know for sure.

No idea of the fate of the older baby who was on its own the day before with no parents - I suppose it must have somehow got into the garden from somewhere else in the locality and hopefully got out again ok.

I do appreciate your input and can only say that it seems the robins got over this whole thing quicker than I did as I've seen the mother today carrying nest-building materials, no doubt heading off to a new site!

Kind regards,

Anna

AnnaUK · Jun 15, 2015

Ian,

Thank you - I've just seen your reply.

I did wonder whether they may have fledged prematurely for some reason, then been hit by the heavy rain and perhaps whatever caused the disturbance in the first place having a go at them.

Very sad when it happens unexpectedly outside your door, and I'd thought they were so relatively safe there

Anna

KC Foggin · Jun 15, 2015

Ian's post sure makes a lot sense in this instance.

Becky G. · May 15, 2021

AnnaUK said:
Hi,

I've just joined this forum after a very sad morning, in the hope of receiving some advice.

Robins' nest was built in the ivy next to my patio, about 5 feet from the ground and covered by the ivy leaves. Three babies, I believe due to fledge in about 5 days.

I've bought live mealworms, put them on the patio and have watched mum and dad being amazing parents. Saw them going to the nest with food at 9 o'clock Friday evening.

Saturday morning at 11 I went to put more food out and found the three babies dead on the ground. One immediately under the nest and the other two about 5 feet away on the lawn, which was devastating.

Small garden surrounded by full height fences. Haven't seen a cat here for ages, a squirrel visits occasionally to take fat balls from the other end of the garden but haven't seen it for well over a week. Crows fly over, saw a magpie on a nearby fence yesterday and a red hawk regularly flies over this area but the nest can't be seen from the garden or from above.

I'm perplexed because if the nest was predated then why haven't the babies been taken away or eaten? One is 'untouched' and two of them look as though something may have had a go at them but this could have been after they were on the ground.

We had heavy rain last night but the nest is intact and well protected by the ivy. Mum and dad are around and have taken beakfuls of mealworms this afternoon and flown into a nearby tree with them, presumably a bit confused as to what they're doing.

I have photos of the three babies on the ground - not nice but if it would be useful to post them.

Any ideas as to what may have happened here? Many thanks if anyone can help.

Anna

Hi Anna, I just went out this morning to our 7 day old Robin babies massacred.I was so sad. Only the heads were ate but whatever creature did this sure messed them up. It is sad but all a part of nature. The nest got build above back door under awning before I realized it was there. Didn't have the heart to move it since she had it completed. It appeared right after we had a twelve year old dog put down. I like to thing these were Angels letting us know they are okay. Odd the babies were born exactly one one after Belle went to Heaven.
So have a positive though that Angels come, do their work and leave Unfortuntely sometimes sooner then we expect and in the most unpleasant way. Just like Humans life is not a guarantee and we do not know our expiry date.
Take Care and know you gave what you could to preserve their tiny life's as long as possible.

WojtekB · Apr 14, 2022

Hi ... I had a robins nest in a wood store next to the house .
Parents were in and out .
Sadly this morning I found 2 hatchlings on the patio below the nest .
The nest was damaged but the poor hatchlings were untouched .
Could it have been another robin defending its territory?
Very sad ☹️
Anybody any ideas ?
Wojtek

KC Foggin · Apr 14, 2022

WojtekB said:
Hi ... I had a robins nest in a wood store next to the house .
Parents were in and out .
Sadly this morning I found 2 hatchlings on the patio below the nest .
The nest was damaged but the poor hatchlings were untouched .
Could it have been another robin defending its territory?
Very sad ☹️
Anybody any ideas ?
Wojtek

Very sad indeed!
I'm just going to jump in here and wish you a warm welcome from those of us on staff here at BirdForum

sorachanna · Jun 15, 2023

Thank you all for posting on the subject! I had a robin's nest with three baby Robins that had just hatched over my patio. Both parents had been chasing squirrels from the area the whole time they were building the nest. This morning I got up and found three dead baby Robin's with no heads and the nest ruined on the ground. Since it occurred the same day my next door neighbor died it was devastating.

Dead baby robins - advice please (1 Viewer)

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