Robins nesting (1 Viewer)

[LauraCK]

Hi good morning all

I live in north London and lucky enough to have lots of birds visit the garden. Starlings blue jays magpies wood pigeons goldfinches and my beloved robin!

This week he bas brought a mate which I thought was quite early but they’re constantly together and feeding together this past week. They have set up nest in the bushes in my garden. It’s fairly hidden from sight but incredibly easy to crawl up. Last year another bird or squirrel got to the babies as I sadly found them dead very young on the lawn one morning

They’ve set up nest in the old bird box. The opening of the box is quite large . Should I help by trying to conceal the opening or is it too late & I shouldn’t touch it? There are no eggs. They’ve managed to take a massive chunk of bread from somewhere and put it inside it’s fairly large I have no idea how they got it in there!!

I don’t want to interfere but I do worry as it was heartbreaking what happened last year.

After they are finished using the box this year what time of year can I dispose of this bird box and replace it with something more secure and safe for them?

I sprinkle a little bit of cheese on the wild robin food mix but this week they’re only taking the cheese and leaving everything else. He will come and sit by the window when the cheese has gone 🤣

Many thanks all

Laura

 

[Kits]

Welcome to Birdforum. Just to let you know blue jays aren’t found in the UK; you will have jays which are quite different. 🙂

It would be best if you left the box well alone, and don’t go looking inside. I’d wait until autumn to replace the box.

You may find this interesting.

European Robin - BirdForum Opus

www.birdforum.net

 

[davercox]

I would agree with Kits: don't interfere with the nestbox now your Robins are apparently using it. One thing I learned from bitter experience is that some predators will watch you to find out where nests are likely to be.
Hope it all goes well.

 

[LauraCK]

Welcome to Birdforum. Just to let you know blue jays aren’t found in the UK; you will have jays which are quite different. 🙂

It would be best if you left the box well alone, and don’t go looking inside. I’d wait until autumn to replace the box.

You may find this interesting.

European Robin - BirdForum Opus

www.birdforum.net

Thank you so much for your reply. My apologies on the blue jay I am very very new to birdwatching and so all info and advice is hugely appreciated thank you 🙏🏻
I had a quick glance already from afar and the bread is huge I’m not sure they are using it for nesting at all. We have freezing temperatures atm and that break will be as hard as an icicle
I think most likely they fly in for food and water only. When I open the door in the morning he flies in so perhaps nesting in a neighbouring garden.
Thank you for the link I’ll take a read now
Laura
PS how do I attach a photo ?

 

[LauraCK]

This was the Jay I saw thank you for your advice

 

[LauraCK]

Here is the robin he’s very friendly he comes to greet me every morning

 

[delia todd]

Hi Laura and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators. No, don't do anything with the box just now (if they desert it you can step in then) leave until the autumn.

Do be careful with providing cheese, some of them have salt added, which garden birds are unable to process (the same with bread and many other products made with humans in mind). Sea birds have special glands to deal with the salt water.

Indeed your have a Eurasian Jay visiting you. You can read more about them here in our Opus article: Eurasian Jay - BirdForum Opus

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.

 

[jogresh]

It's so nice to have a Robin that gets used to your presence.
I have fed cheese to birds in the past, however apparently it's not the best thing for them as birds aren't well adapted to dairy, so i switched to suet pellets as a good, fatty alternative. (Edit - crossed with Delia, and yes good point re: salt)
Enjoy your birds! 🙂🐦🐦

 

[Kits]

This was the Jay I saw thank you for your advice

Lovely! We all are learning all the time, so never apologise!

 

[LauraCK]

He is a cute little bird. As soon as I open the door early morning he flies right over. It’s a highlight of my day! He will come right up to my side. I had no idea they only lived around a year but we always seem to have a robin come by year after year so I’m very grateful for that. It brings so much joy and want to make sure I’m doing the best thing by them. I have some good quality robin feed. I tried some berries too but he’s not interested at all. I can’t leave out too much as we have so many pigeons in London and they take over! We do have a couple of beautiful wood pigeons though!

 

[LauraCK]

Is it early to have them have a mate in January? I’ll post some pics if I manage to snap them tomorrow but I normally just greet him without my phone just my coffee 🤣

 

[jogresh]

Robins are often quite early breeders. I'm trying to remember what time of year I start to see 2 Robins feeding together but I can't - anyway, you've clearly got a pair which is great. The mild weather we've been having has perhaps made them think about pairing up, but a cold snap may put paid to that for a few weeks!
Fingers crossed for a successful nest. 😃 🤞🐦

 

[Andy Lakin]

If you have a couple of birds coming you might want to try buying some maggots from a fishing shop. The birds will.love these and will help them prepare for breeding, also the maggots will be fine for any young they may have. Alternatively if practical you could set up a simple wormery to breed worms to feed them obviously other birds such as blackbirds, starlings etc will appreciate this also.

 

[PYRTLE]

Or live mealworms....they love 'em.

Alternative suggestion, I used to farm waxworms when I used to keep reptiles, easy to farm with just a few lidded plastic containers and oats or bran.

 

[Andy Lakin]

Or live mealworms....they love 'em.

Alternative suggestion, I used to farm waxworms when I used to keep reptiles, easy to farm with just a few lidded plastic containers and oats or bran.

I know some people say consuming a lot of mealworms is bad for birds. I can't remember the supposed reason I think it is that the birds could become overweight. Personally I find this highly unlikely but others may have more info to confirm/ disprove this.

 

[seedyrom]

This was the Jay I saw thank you for your advice

Eurasian jay