Have you ever found yourself asking questions about a little baby robin bird? Questions like when do they leave the nest, how do they differentiate their parents and other birds? Well worry no more I have answers for you on baby robins
After a fortnight or about 13 days from hatching, baby robins get out of the nest. The leaving from the nest is called fledging. Fledging mainly occurs before midday, often within 6 hours of sunrise.
The main reason baby birds leave the nest is that it’s a hot spot and a risky space for them to stay since the predators can easily spot them and attack at such sites. Even after leaving, they are usually under the care of their father and mother, who later learn from their father.
Even after fledging, baby robins are fed by their parents for some time before they can entirely depend on themselves. I have thought out some questions you would have and have done my research too. Keep reading to learn more about baby robins!
Why do baby robins fledge at the age of 13 days?
The period of a fledgling is risky because the young bird is teaching itself how to fly. Due to the many risks, young baby robins fledge in the morning hours for reasons which include:
- There is enough daylight which allows the bird to find a safe hiding place.
- With daylight, a young robin will keep a safe distance from the parent, it’s easier for the parents to trace its siblings.
Dangers that face baby robins after fledging
When baby robins fledge, they do not return to the nest since, like other birds, the nest is not a house and is used for hatching and laying eggs. Staying away from the nest leaves them vulnerable to a lot of looming danger like the rest of the species. They now sleep on tree branches like the adult robins.
Some of the dangers facing fledgling baby robins include lawn sprays which include herbicides and insecticides. Fledgling robin birds once out of the nest spend most of their time on grass. In the presence of these lawn sprays, it causes itchiness; hence when they preen, any coating on their feathers enters their mouth.
Other dangers include cats, crows, and hawks—these predators on spotting attack and feast on the young bird. In case there are young robins in your yard, ensure the cat and neighborhood cats are away.
How do baby robins keep themselves away from danger?
Fledgling young baby birds are weak and don’t stand a chance in fighting their predators. However, they, too, try to keep themselves safe. When something flies over them, they hold tightly to the tree branches and produce a distress call.
On hearing it the parents come in for rescue at breakneck speed and attack anything trying to harm the baby robin, may it be a snake, crow or even a human being. Their speed and weight keep off such dangers. An adult robin weighs about 2 ½ to 3 ounces.
How do baby robins feed?
As mentioned earlier, baby robins are unique birds, not like chickens. When chickens hatch, they are usually fully grown so that they don’t need their parents around. Chicken can feed for themselves and only need their parents to learn very few things like how to hide in case of danger and for protection when young only.
The world is entirely different for baby robins; they depend on their parents to feed them. They open their beaks, and they are directly provided. They can know the presence of their parents through vibration on the nest when they come back from looking for food.
They can also know the presence of their parents from the shadow that forms when they come back in case it was a sunny day, on feeding baby robin poop. The parents eat the poop from the baby robin. Yuck!! It’s somehow irritating, but this is because when the baby robin is young, its poop does not contain bacteria.
Baby robin poop in a sac that is called the facel sac. This way, when the parent bird is flying out of the nest, it carries the sac and releases it far from the nest. Throwing far away the poop helps keep the predators away from the nest, and it’s also able to keep the nest clean.
Why does baby robin look ugly at first?
For many, at their first glance at the baby robin, they believe they look pretty ugly at first sight, but when someone gets to see this for some time, they get used to it. When small or after hatching, baby robins have very few feathers, and most skin is visible. The leather allows visibility of some inner parts of this bird.
However, for the parents, it’s different; they are the most beautiful creatures for them. One man’s meat is another man’s poison. You may feel that they have an ugly look since you probably compare these birds with earth birds such as chicken or even geese.
For chicken, when they hatch, they are usually fully grown and can even feed themselves, unlike the baby robin that their parents provide. For a baby robin, its incubation time is less than that of a chicken with about 30 days. The first baby hatches from about 12-14 days from the day the last egg.
How to care for a fledgling robin bird?
The fledging period is when the bird tries to fly. It’s learning how to fly by itself and will often fall to the ground. You may come across one on the floor and may require your help and handle it properly.
Firstly watch for some time. A baby robin that’s on the ground will be chirping loudly, calling for the parents. Wait for about half an hour to see if the parents will come for the rescue. If it doesn’t rescue the bird.
In the case of a predator, presence puts it back in the nest and still watches for some time approximately another half hour. Adult parent robins don’t leave fledgling birds for long, at most maybe an hour since fledgling robins require a lot of feeding at least every hour.
When the parent birds don’t come back, you can try and feed the young baby robin with some earthworm or some small mouthful of canned beef cat food on the tip of the beak. Worry not about water because food given to them provides the necessary moisture needed by the body and keeps them hydrated.
If you cannot keep one by yourself, you should carry the young bird to the wildlife sanctuary since it’s also illegal to keep wildlife when not licensed.
