Baby Birds Grew Quickly

 To Fly Away

By Kendra Bobowick

“They’re gone! They flew the coop!” said Washbrook Road resident Pat Hammalian. Baby robins in a nest outside her home had held her attention for days since their mother had confiscated Ms Hammalian’s decorative summer wreath in past weeks. She had waited, but never saw bright blue eggs, and was instead surprised by growing babies after a weekend away from home.

Watching the mother bird’s attentiveness as she built and guarded her nest, Ms Hammalian expected to see eggs, but must have missed it. She noted the bird’s frequent trips for nesting materials and food. The bird would dart from the nest where only her head and beak were visible, to alight on a fence rail where Ms Hammalian had sprinkled some seeds. Ms Hammalian peered daily at the robin from different spots inside the house or the yard, waiting for hints of blue inside the nest.

After a weekend away, however, she discovered baby birds. “The sad part is, I wasn’t home when she laid the eggs,” she said. What she saw since late last week were three plump baby robins. “They were chubby; they got chubby fast.”

As of Monday, May 24, the nest was empty, Ms Hammalian said. Where are the chubby baby birds? They are not in the trees or anywhere in sight, she said. “We thought they would stay close, maybe fly around a lot, but …”

Friends had begun to call her Aunt of the Robins, which she means to honor. She is going to leave her wreath hanging in case the mother birds wants to use it again. The whole incident “was adorable,” she said.

Read more about a robin’s life cycle at nhptv.org/natureworks/robin.htm. According to the website, robins may produce two or three broods a season. The mother will sit on the eggs for roughly two weeks.