Baby Birds
Posted on May 21st, 2007 By laura at 12:02 am (All, Wildlife)
I went to check on the baby robins yesterday and found that all three had died in the nest. I don’t know what happened to them; they looked like they were asleep at first. There were a lot of ants in the nest which I assumed happened after the birds died but I wonder if its possible that the ants killed the babies. I noticed an ant hill under the tree and didn’t think anything of it before. I can only find information on fire ants (which I don’t think are in Michigan) killing nesting birds though so I don’t know.
Anyone else know?
Barb! said,
May 21, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Have you seen the mother bird at all?
Rebecca said,
May 21, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Sounds more like abandonment than ants…Maybe something happened to mama.
laura said,
May 22, 2007 at 7:57 am
I haven’t seen the mama bird that I know of… we have a lot of robins around. Something having gotten the mama is always a possibility too. As low as she made her nest though, I actually expected a cat to get the babies so it was a bit of a shock to find them intact excepting the ant damage.
Kiley said,
May 23, 2007 at 11:11 am
They were still alive and moving in the “hideously cute” picture, right? The nuthatches are all squirming for food - little beaks open - and the robins are all in a big pile…
laura said,
May 24, 2007 at 7:42 am
They were definitely breathing in the hideously cute picture. Maybe they had been abandoned by then though because, you’re right, it doesn’t seem like they were very alert, does it?