So crowded! Only a scant 2 weeks before, there was room for at least 20 eggs, and now they have to take turns who gets on top.
Or rather, they did have to take turns. Not satisfied with the cramped quarters (and no longer getting food deliveries from mom or dad), a baby robin jumped out of the nest only 5 days after the last blog post! Perhaps 'jump' isn't quite the right word, as it looked much more like an accidental step, followed by lots of wing flapping.
About 4 hours later, we looked over to find the second bird moving out of the nest, onto ajoining beam. There was some experimental flapping, a wee look around, and then poof, a step off the edge. That bird made a nicely controlled fall, completed with a slight bounce off the grass.
The last two birds decided to stay put, perhaps luxuriating in the extra space.
A day later, and again no food from mom or dad, 3rd chick decided to make a controlled fall directly from the nest, bouncing a bit more on the landing. About 1/2 hour later, the last one popped down in a similar manner, and when we looked over, we noticed it flying/hopping over to an area in the adjacent trees containing an adult robin and a couple of the juveniles!
It's common for juvenile robins to follow parents around for a numer of weeks after leaving the nest, perhaps remembering that elusive easy meal from bygone days, so now we've discovered an in-between period where adults keep tabs on, and perhaps help find food for, just-launched juveniles.
