Robin Rescue

Tonight while Eagle Eyes, Tarzan and I were eating dinner some kids in the neighborhood brought us a 1-2 day old nestling robin that they had found on the sidewalk down the street next to its dead sibling. I walked down the street with them to where they had found the nestling and had them look up. The girl was extremely bright and immediately spotted the nest with the female robin on it, almost exactly above the spot where the nestling had been on the ground. Tarzan, Eagle Eyes and I staged a mini-rescue and returned the nestling to the nest while the neighbors looked on. The interesting part is that the ladder would not reach the nest and there were no remotely sturdy branches to prop it against or tie it to, so instead Tarzan and Eagle Eyes held the ladder straight up and supported it with their weight while I climbed it and placed the nestling back in the nest. They reassured me that I really don't weigh that much, but I have never had two people alone bracing the ladder so I was a bit nervous. Luckily, they didn't drop me. Here's some photos:


Above, the nest with one remaining nestling in it. I initially thought it had been partially depredated by another bird, but after reaching into it to place the fallen nestling back in I could see the nest was wet and disintegrating from all the rain we've had. This has been a common recurrence lately unfortunately with all the thunderstorms we've had.

Here are some shots of the nestling-- the dark spots in some of the photos are not poop but instead I believe sesame seeds from the napkin the kids placed the bird on.


Gaping or begging, as is so characteristic of all altricial young, and a sight anyone who has every done any wildlife rehabilitation work with nestlings or fledgelings will never forget. It's saying, "Feed me!"



And here both nestlings are back in the nest successfully: