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Eric Dempsey's Robin Diary
May 21st: Well, today is the day. I started monitoring the nest at about 5.30am. Often birds will attempt to encourage the chicks to leave the nest early in the morning so I didn’t want to miss anything. At this hour of the morning, all the birds were very active. They were all standing up and preening and flapping their wings. They were also very alert and were even pecking at pieces of grass on the edge of the nest. At 5.40am, one of the chicks left the nest. While some of them stood on the brim of the nest, this was the first time one had ever actually left the nest. This brave little chick went to the edge of the shelf upon which this nest is built and stood looking around for a few moments before beating a hasty retreat back into the nest, where it sat at the very back. This kind of thing continued to happen throughout the whole morning, with one bird after the other taking short little trips out of the nest… but they always went back.
However, a few minutes after 1.30pm, one left the nest…looked around and with a rapid flutter of its wings was gone. With four chicks still present, the parents continued to feed them. Then, at 2.25pm, another walked left and flew off the shelf. Suddenly the nest was looking quite empty. At 2.40pm, the third chick jumped forward and in a matter of seconds, was gone. The two remaining chicks sat still for a few moments and were fed by an adult. Then at 2.46pm, the fourth chick walked out of the nest, walked towards the camera and flew. And then there was one!
It was fascinating to watch this last little chick in the nest. It looked quite confused and seemed to be slightly stressed. It walked left out of the nest but stood still, just within vision of the camera. An adult flew in and went to the nest. It seemed quite surprised to suddenly find the nest empty but this last little chick ran up to the adult, begging. She offered it food but just as the chick was about to take it, she pulled back from giving the food to it. The chick went back into the nest and looked a very lonely figure. The adult returned and once again tried to entice the chick off the nest by offering food again. The hungry chick was torn between two things: the safety of the nest or food. The adult once more enticed the chick with food until, at exactly 2.57pm (three minutes before the start of the show), this last little chick jumped forward and took to the air. The nest is now empty and five chicks have been successfully raised. One or two of them remained in the garage being fed but slowly, and one by one, they were all enticed out into the garden where there is lots of cover and lots of food.
Let us hope that they all make it through this new chapter in their lives. The chicks of today are the adults of tomorrow.
May 20th: The young birds are now 14 days old….and this marks the average time most Robins spend in the nest. The birds are spending more and more time flapping their wings, exercising those flight muscles and preparing for the moment they leave the nest. Both parents are very actively feeding the chicks. Today is the first time I have been able to tell the two adult birds apart. One bird has quite ‘tatty’ feathers on the forehead while the other is much cleaner. So, while I am unsure which is the male and which is the female, I can be sure that both are in attendance at the nest. The young birds are almost ready to go. It can only be a matter of a day or two. From the outset, I have suggested that they will be gone by 21st May which is tomorrow. Will I be right? Check the site out on Wednesday morning to see.
May 19th: It’s been another very active and busy day at the nest. The adults are feeding the chicks at least once every two minutes during the day and each chick is looking healthy and very content. They are now more and more active at the nest site with the young birds preening their feathers constantly. This is almost a way of getting their important flight feathers prepared for the big day when they leave the nest. At 8.00pm this evening one of the young birds spent several minutes really flapping hard. This was the first time I’ve seen such flapping and is certainly a sign that the birds only have a short time left at the nest. As the evening draws in, the adults are less active at the nest. The young birds seem to rest more as the day draws to a close…they have been fed well all day so they now need to conserve their energy. They will need it…their big day is fast approaching.
May 18th: The birds are very active in the nest today. They are standing up more often and can be seen to actually flap their little wings. This is important to strengthen those wing muscles. They will need to at least be able to flutter off the ground if danger threatens. They are quite ‘gingery’ in colour and will not have the red breast of an adult Robin until they get a little older. When they leave the nest they will need to be as camouflaged as possible and that bright red breast would be an instant attraction to any predator. Just as important is the fact that the bright red breast would draw the attention of male Robins who would attack a chick in the mistaken idea it was a threat to his territory. So young Robins are in fact like mini-thrushes. They are Robin- sized and Robin-shaped but are gingery brown on the breast with pale spots. In the first few weeks of a young birds life…everything that helps it survive is essential.
May 17th: All five chicks are still present and the parents are feeding them constantly. Looking at the birds, it is amazing to see that the birds are now almost fully feathered….even their wing feathers are growing rapidly. The young birds are now even preening their wing feathers, a sure sign how big they are. Until recently, they had no feathers to preen. With the adults in constant attendance, I can see all five chicks being ready to leave the nest during the early to mid part of the coming week.
May 16th: It is now Day 10 of their lives and the birds keep on growing. They are now spending more time on their own while the parents go off in search of food. Thankfully, it seems that they are finding enough food to keep these chicks going. It is also interesting that the parent birds are now looking a little dishevelled at this stage. Coming into and out of a nest, as well as brooding chicks and incubating eggs, results in the adult birds feathers getting badly worn. Because of this, birds moult their feathers after the breeding season (this moult is called the post-nuptial moult) so that they have a brand new set of feathers for the winter and, in the case of birds like Swallows, the migration ahead. With the weather staying fine, all is looking good for our chicks. Will all five survive? Time will only tell!
May 15th: This is now entering one of the most critical parts of the chicks lives. As they grow older and bigger, they will be constantly hungry. The parents will be more and more active, feeding them constantly. The life of a chick is like a two lap race. The first lap is simply staying alive and getting through the first week. The second is often the lap when things get tougher. Firstly, with the parents constantly out looking for food, they leave themselves open to predators. If one of the parents is killed, the burden of feeding five ever-growing hungry chicks may be too much for one single bird. The other big problem is…will the parents find enough food? Last year many of the Blue Tits died only a day or two before they were due to fledge. So, over the next few days we need to watch to see if the parents are finding enough food and lets keep our fingers crossed they can.
May 14th: It is Day 8 and the birds are entering their second week. Looking at the chicks today and remembering what they were like only one week ago, it is hard to believe we are looking at the same birds. By the time they leave the nest, these little guys will have increased their body weight tenfold. They were only about 2 grams when they hatched…by next week they may be as heavy as 20 grams. The birds are also beginning to grow their first feathers…called pin feathers, these are the first real feathers they grow. The biggest ones are the flight feathers on the wings and, even at this early stage of their lives, the birds are already beginning to stretch their wings. By the time they leave the nest next week, they should have all of their feathers grown and will be able to flutter around.
May 13th: Our chicks go from strength to strength. It is now seven days since they hatched and looking at them in the nest today, it is already looking a little crowded. It is hard to believe that by this day next week, all these chicks will be almost the size of their parents. We also received great news in that there are still five chicks in the nest. As I wrote on May 11th, the chicks will become more demanding as they get older and it is then that all chicks will beg when an adult returns. It is usually only then that we can see exactly how many there are in the nest. It is a sign of how rapidly they are growing when we see them at this stage of their development…all five mouths open looking for food as soon as an adult appears. It is also worth noting that the female is no longer brooding them as often. The first week can often be the one when many young birds die. That all five have made it through their first week is a great achievement.
May 12th: It has been a long hot day in Dublin but our little chicks look quite cool! They now have long downy feathers on their heads and, as their eyes are beginning to open, they’re not wasting time begging when there is no adult. They are now beginning to look more like birds instead of mini-dinosaurs. The adult is spending less and less time at the nest and more time away finding food for them. However, she is still brooding them on occasions but as they grow bigger, it is getting to be a tight fit for them all. A super question came in from pupils in Ms. Redmond’s class in Our Lady of Victories School in Ballymun…they wanted to know how the chicks get anything to drink in this hot weather. The simple answer is that the chicks don’t need to drink as they get enough liquid from the caterpillars and flies they eat. Think of a caterpillar as being like an orange or a water melon…full of liquid. When I say ‘juicy’ caterpillar…I mean ‘juicy’!
May 11th: The chicks continue to grow quickly…even since yesterday they seem larger in the nest and are stronger. At this stage they seem to be opening their eyes for the first time and, perhaps as a result, are not wasting time begging until an adult arrives at the nest. The female is spending more and more time away from the nest which isn’t surprising given the fact that the bigger the chicks become, the more demanding they are. In this heat, the birds may be suffering a little but thankfully the garage is quite cool and shaded. In birds that nest in the open, the female will often sit over her brood with open wings to keep them shaded. Perhaps this current warm spell explains why the female doesn’t need to brood them quite as much. It is still difficult to tell how many chicks there are at times but, as they grow bigger, it will be easier to see if all five are still there. Lets hope they are.
May 10th: The female is now spending more and more time away from the nest and less time brooding the chicks, although she is still brooding them for long periods. This morning, she appeared very alert for a few moments as if she felt threatened by something. But it was a fly that had caught her attention and she quickly flew up off the nest and grabbed it. It was then fed to one of the chicks…take-in meals as it were! The chicks are still very young but quite active in the nest. Their eyes are still closed so they are still begging without the parents being present. Today is the first day I have also noticed the female removing faecal sacks from the nest. When a chick wants to ‘deposit a dropping’, it is presented to the adult in a small, thin membrane which the parent then brings away from the nest and disposes of it well away from the area. This keeps the nest clean and, for birds that nest out in the open, also keeps the nest well camouflaged.
May 9th: The chicks are now two days old and are getting more demanding. The female is now leaving the nest more frequently to find food for her ever-hungry chicks although she is still spending low periods of time brooding them. This morning she spent a long time doing a little nest tidying. She was re-lining some parts of the nest and was re-arranging some of the lining. Obviously with chicks now in the nest, their movements may have disturbed some of the inner section. When she had completed that, she snuggled down for a few moments only to stand up very quickly to fix another piece…it was as if she wasn’t quite happy with it. She then settled down to brooding the chicks again. When she broods, she is always very watchful…as if she wants to make sure that she doesn’t stand on the chicks. She may continue to feed the chicks until quite late…it was a little past 9.30 last night when she finally settled down for the night.
May 8th: The chicks are now one day old and already they have visibly grown. They are now stronger and more demanding. It has been very difficult to tell exactly how many chicks there are in the nest. For most of the day, there appeared to be only four birds but at 6.40 p.m., five chocks were clearly seen begging. At this stage, the birds will eat only small amounts so that when the parent returns, not all of them will beg for food…hence, we don’t see all five heads peering up all the time. So all five chicks have hatched successfully. The chicks are blind and helpless and will instantly starting begging at any sound they think might be the returning female. Often this begging might be triggered by the sound or movement of another chick. The female is feeding them more than she did yesterday but is also spending long periods of time brooding them.
May 7th: This morning things suddenly changed. One tiny baby Robin was seen sticking his head above the nest rim. The female was off the nest and, even though she was gone, this young bird went into begging mode…calling with open mouth. This is almost an automatic response. As already explained, Robins start incubating their eggs when the last egg is laid. This ensures that all chicks should emerge together. This bird has five eggs and by early afternoon (1.30pm) it was obvious that four chicks were now present. At approximately 2.00pm, the female was observed to eat the remains of an egg (possibly that of the fifth chick). This is a vital source of calcium for the female…a valuable resource not to be wasted.
Throughout the rest of the day, she left the nest and returned to feed her hungry young birds. However, at that this stage, the young need to be kept warm. Most young birds (with the exception of waterbirds like swans and ducks) emerge from the egg totally naked. The first feathers they grow are down feathers, designed to keep them warm. Being so small, they are not that hungry. However, as the days go by, and they begin to grow, the demands on both parents will increase dramatically. Let us hope they can find enough food to fed them all and bring them to fledging. It is now that the real action begins.
It has been noticed that when she sits on the chicks, she seems uncomfortable and is constantly checking on them. This is obviously a strange feeling for her…up to now she has been sitting on five inanimate objects (eggs). Now she has four or five squirming, calling chicks which are kicking and pecking…all very new for her. Perhaps this is her first family?
May 3rd - 6th: The female Robin has been sitting very tight on the eggs, keeping them warm and secure. She leaves the nest for very brief periods of time, to stretch, preen and feed. At this stage, things are very quiet at nest.
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