Robins are nearly everywhere, from timberline in the mountains to the beaches of the South. We take them for granted and enjoy their songs and their foraging in our yards. Sometimes we are blessed to be able to intimately get to know our backyard Robins. The Muzny south Oklahoma City backyard has always had Robins visiting off and on. A pair usually nested in a hackberry tree that hangs over our driveway at the side of our home. This year the hackberry must have fallen out of favor with the Robins.
About three weeks ago I was heading out for work and I noticed that a female Robin had begun to attempt to anchor long pieces of dead grass on the highest window ledge at the north end of our patio. The wind was blowing and the grass wouldn’t stay put and I figured her choice of nesting sites was not going to be very good. What did I know? By evening, she had performed some sort of magic and the grass was mostly staying in place. Next day it rained and she now had adequate mud with which to make her nest more stable. Many trips were made to and from the rapidly forming nest.
I could see her from inside the bedroom and it was quite entertaining to watch her place nesting materials and shimmy to and fro until it felt just right before launching off of the ledge and out into the yard for another bit of construction material. Sometimes she would notice I was in the room and give me one of those “looks” that clearly stated she didn’t appreciate the invasion of her privacy.
After a couple of weeks, I got the ladder so I could see how many eggs she had laid. At this point in the process there were four of the most beautiful “Robin’s egg blue” eggs neatly arranged in her nest.
After a couple of weeks, I got the ladder so I could see how many eggs she had laid. At this point in the process there were four of the most beautiful “Robin’s egg blue” eggs neatly arranged in her nest.
The Robin saga doesn’t end here. On May 1st, I saw another Robin trying to make grass stick to the downspout at the north side of our garage. That really was not one of her better ideas! On May 2nd, I noticed more grass on the south side of our patio, directly above the door that leads from our dining room out onto the patio! Apparently the downspout Robin decided that site was not good, so they moved to the patio. On May 4th, the grass was in place and the mud was securing yet another Robin nest.
These two nests are within 30 feet of each other. The two nests are almost within a direct site line of each other. And things get interesting in the back yard when both birds are foraging. There is squabbling and most definitely an invisible territorial line – one takes the south side of the lawn, the other the more northern side.
While the dining room Robin was trying to make her nest, Sam Muzny thought it might be interesting to put a little shelf out under the carport at the end of our drive. We thought the dining room Robin might prefer to be farther away from the north patio Robin. The next day we saw grass on the concrete under the shelf! A couple of days later more mud was anchoring the third nest! The carport Robins have a nearly-completed nest, making a total of three Robin nests within 100 feet of each other. All three sites are very secure and protected from the elements and hopefully from predators. On May 4th, I observed 5 Robins foraging in the back yard.
It appears that Robins must have had an excellent nesting season in 2015. Never have we had any species make nests under the patio cover. One patio nest surprised me, but two there, then one under the nearby carport seems quite unusual.