A few weeks ago, we noticed that a bird was building a nest in our back porch. We guessed at what kind it might be since we hadn’t seen the actual birds in process of building. I had guessed some sort of sparrow, but we soon saw that it was a robin pair who had taken up residence.
We looked up information on robins in our favorite little backyard bird handbook, Stokes Beginner’s Guide to Birds: Eastern Region.
Back porch nature study: robin nest & eggs!
We learned that robins make their nests of grass and mud, usually on the limb of a tree or on a building ledge. We found it interesting that our robin pair had made two more starter nests in the porch before they chose their final location.
Once we’d seen that she was sitting on the nest pretty regularly, we climbed up for a peek at her pretty eggs. Robins typically lay 3-7 eggs, and have an incubation time of 12-14 days. And of course, they’re robin’s egg blue!
Yesterday, after much anticipation, we had babies!
Kathryn was the first one to notice that the mama robin brought back a worm and a little head popped up to eat it! We know from watching the house finch nest on our front door a few years ago that these babies will grow FAST!
Though right now they don’t even seem to have their eyes open, in about two weeks, these little birdies will be fledglings, and the adult pair will likely have one or two more broods before summer is over. I’m glad my kids don’t grow up that fast!
The girls and I have been talking about how amazing it is that God created birds to know things like where and how to build nests, how often they have to sit on their nests to properly incubate the eggs, what and how to feed the babies, and that the babies know to be quiet when mama and dad are away from the nest.
I love that we can enjoy nature study just about any time or place!
(UPDATE: read the dramatic continuation of our study here: Up-close Robin Nature Study)
Wife, mama, homeschooler, dog-wrangler. Introvert who finds joy in good books, sunshine, and authentic conversation. Fitness enthusiast and personal trainer. Often seen with a steaming mug of tea in hand.
That is probably the most fun Nature Study for your children! 🙂 God presents so many fascinating science lessons for us right outside our doors! How neat to have little robins to watch grow!
I love baby birds. Enjoy.
The color of their eggs always amazes me…I wonder why they are blue?
Don’t forget to look up robins in your HNS…there is a wealth of ideas and info on robins to glean from. It may give you some ideas for giving your robin watching another layer. I love it when nature study comes to our family without much effort.
Thanks for sharing your nest, eggs, and birds with the OHC.
Yes, we are looking through the HNS this coming week, as we should have about two weeks of baby-bird watching!
Hi Jamie, I’m popping over from Jamie’s place — I enjoyed your post there.
Love these pictures and your post about the baby robins — it’s funny that I wrote about baby birds and a nest near our house today, too — spring means baby birds!
Oh wonderful! Wonderful experience. Thanks so much for sharing your study and your photos. Love the nest of blue eggs especially. Needs to go on your wall 🙂
Beautiful eggs!! Wow!
We have a nest on our front porch too, but I haven’t seen too much activity. Beautiful pictures!
Oh, that color is gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous! ~K
What fun! I haven’t seen a robin’s nest in ages, though I occasionally see a broken blue egg on the ground. They are either really good at hiding their nests or I’m not as observant as I should be. It will be fun to watch these chicks grow up – enjoy!
So sweet story.
Whether, its human beings, its birds, or its animals, babies are always so cute.
Plus, God has created this in the ‘Instinct’ of the animals that how to sit on the nests and on the eggs and how to feed the babies.
anyways, it was enjoyable and informative to read.
Those are some fascinating photos!
That is so cool that you can watch the progress!