Expert: Jonathan Wright - 6/11/2005

Question
I am building a raised playhouse for my kids and noticed that a robin had built a nest and laid 3 eggs.  I'm not quite finished with the construction and have notice every time I climb up to the playhouse to work on it, the robin will obviously fly away - I thought about moving the nest but have read your recommendations against that.  Will I jeopardize the gestation process by disturbing the robin in what I'm sure she thinks is her playhouse?  Any recommendations?

Answer
Dear Darren

Thanks for your question and for looking at answers in Allexperts. Please note that there are various birds named robins. These include the European robin, American robin and Pekin robin. I guess that you are referring to the American robin and I have structured my answer accordingly. If you live in Europe, please let me know, but the basic advice will be the same – do not disturb unless you are certain that the nest is inactive. There are laws against disturbing wild birds and their active nests, never mind the impact on the birds and the success of their breeding.

My basic advice is to leave the nest alone and not to disturb it, unless you don't see any robins entering or leaving the nest for several days. If there are eggs in the nest and the eggs hatch, there will be a lot of activity, with the adults being very active in catching food for the chicks. There are several cases of birds nesting in unusual places. Some birds nest in letter boxes and the letter box is left undisturbed until the birds leave the nest. It takes about 12-14 days for a female to incubate the eggs. After the birds fledge, about two weeks later, the father takes two weeks to teach them how to survive. This means that you may need to postpone constructing the playhouse for up to seven weeks if the nest is active. Obviously, if there is no activity after the next two weeks, you may be able to continue construction, but please check that there are no robins in or near the nest before doing so. You may need to contact a wildlife rehabilitator (there is a link at http://kathyskritters.com/tales/robins/) or similar expert to be on the safe side.   

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/robin/FAQNestsEggs.html states that robins will probably abandon the nest, eggs and/or young if the nest is moved, as it makes the nest environment different. The mother remembers the features around the nest; if these features are not there, she may not think the nest is hers. Many years ago, I looked after somebody's flat. She had just moved and her pet cat was anxious. One day it escaped. It was later found near her old home, as it didn't recognise her new home as its home. Robins have a similar reaction to a changed home. Robins are less likely to abandon it if they have invested a lot of time and energy in it.  

It is best not to disturb eggs. They may not contain babies, for they may be infertile or may not develop properly. After other babies are a day or two old, the parents remove unhatched eggs, so that growing babies do not accidentally crush them. Do not try to retrieve the eggs and try to incubate them. You have very little chance of success and will have to find worms, insects and other food for the chicks, if they do hatch. It is against state and federal laws in the US to raise wild baby birds.

http://www.howpeg.com/robinblog2005/ goes into great detail about robin development (a video camera was set up to film all the stages from layijg the eggs to leaving the nest). It says it takes 12-14 days to incubate the eggs. The female robin builds the nest, lays the eggs, does all of the incubating and then finally gets to share the feeding and house cleaning duties to the clutch with the male. After the clutch (young offspring) fledge (leave the nest), 14-16 days later, the father will look after and teach the fledglings for about two weeks, until they become independent.

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/warobin.asp says that robins begin nesting in April. The eggs hatch after about two weeks the eggs hatch. In another two weeks or so, the young birds will be fully feathered and will begin to try to fly out of the nest.

I hope this has helped you and that your children will enjoy the robins and will not be too impatient about the completion of their playhouse.

All the best

Jonathan