Savannah's Robin

One of the last units Savannah had for science was about birds and our local robin family was happy to help her out! We noticed the robins freshening up the nest they had built in the eaves of our back deck last year so we knew baby robins would be hatching sometime this spring. Savannah started her bird study a day after they were born and ended 2 1/2 weeks later when they were ready to leave the nest.

The newly hatched babies. I'd like to say they were cute but their huge alien eyes and hairless bodies definitely push them into the freaky end of the spectrum. It's hard to see but there were four of them.

After only a couple of days they were a lot bigger and their feathers were making an appearance.

At almost 2 weeks old they had all their feathers, their eyes were open, and they had filled out the nest.

Hungry babies, almost ready to leave the nest. We couldn't believe how much they had grown in such a short amount of time!

And then the day came when David called up to Savannah and I to come on outside, the babies had flown the nest but one was still hanging around. He was sitting on our back patio.  Just sitting there. And staring. (At least this one hadn't snuck into our house like the one last year.)

Savannah decided to go in for a little pet.

And the robin just sat there, staring. He did seem to enjoy it and made no effort to get away from her.

And then she decided that she wanted to hold him and he settled right into her hand.

After holding him for awhile we decided to put him back in his nest. With our cats roaming the area we didn't want to leave him on the ground.

As Savannah headed for the ladder the bird decided to try his wings once more and took off into the trees.  One last picture of him as he observes his new habitat.

Savannah had high hopes that he would remember her and come back to see her from time to time but, even if he has, who knows how to tell all the robins apart. This was definitely a fun bird study for the both of us! We are both hoping that the robins will use the same nest again next year.