Expert: Roger Lederer - 5/31/2009

Question
In the evening or late afternoon, we feed a pair of robins who have established a nest in our yard and now replete with hatchlings. The worms are common meal worms we get at Wild Birds Unlimited.

I have noticed that sometimes both the male and the female seem to regurgitate something that looks like bird poop upon returning from the nest to feast on more worms. What is this stuff they regurgitate? Why do they do this? Are we feeding them too many worms at one time? (50-100 or so).

Kind regards, dennis  

Answer
Apparently the parents are feeding on the worms, eating some themselves and feeding some to the young. The young in the nest, after being fed, defecate. The fecal sacs they produce are eaten by the parents and regurgitated elsewhere outside of the nest. So what you are seeing is the male and female cleaning the nest by eating the fecal sacs of the young and regurgitating them elsewhere. This obviously keeps the nest clean. It has nothing to do with the number of worms you feed the adults.