Expert: Roger Lederer - 5/22/2007

Question
a robin has made a nest on my wreath that hangs 2 ft from my front door. 4 days ago 2 of the 3 eggs hatched. the baby birds looks ok at first, but then were not moving at all. on the 3rd day i looked and the babies were gone and 1 egg still there. i have heard that the momma robins if the babies are dead will take them out of the nest and drop them. is this correct? why do you think they died, i have no other means to get in my house. but she was real use to me. how often to robins lay eggs in a year?

Answer
It is possible that the mother dropped the babies out of the nest, but unlikely. Did you find the dead babies under the nest?  I have no idea why they died - there are many possibilities. Did the mother abandon them? Robins typically lay eggs only once a year, but twice a year is possible. Roger Lederer at Ornithology.com