Expert: Roger Lederer - 6/1/2007

Question
QUESTION: I have been watching a nest of Robins under my deck.  The first two jumped out of the nest and I assume flew away after a day or two as they were just gone when I came home one day.  The third I think may have died in the nest?  Is that possible?  He didn't seem to be moving yesterday.  Today I came home to find a dead baby about 10 feet from the nest.  My questions are these: If a baby dies in the nest are they removed by the mother bird?  If this baby jumped out OK, could he have died from an 85 degree day and being in the sun?  Lastly, I picked the dead bird up and bagged him so he was not just laying there as a reminder to all the other birds, is that OK?

Thanks in advance!

ANSWER: Baby Robins, and all other songbirds leave the nest 10-14 days before they can fly. They hide in the bushes and the mother feeds them until they can fly. If they die in the nest, the mother does not remove them. Mortality is high among baby birds so the weather, predators, poisons (pesticides, etc.), starvation, etc. are all possible reasons. It is ok to pick it up and dispose of the dead one. Roger Lederer at Ornithology.com


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I saw 2 of them OK for two days each and they were just on the ground.  They are gone after only 2 days and I have no bushes in the backyard.  If they cannot fly yet, where did they go?  

Answer
They are hiding somewhere but I can't tell you exactly where because I don't know the habitat around your house. They can't stay in the open because of predators, so they almost certainly moved and found a place where they can safely be fed by mom. Roger Lederer