Missing baby Robins

by One of our Readers

Nesting Robins

Nesting Robins

I have a nest at my upstairs window sill and a Robin had laid 3 eggs.

I watched from inside my home as the eggs hatched and lo and behold, three little Robins were born.

Then one day I heard the parent singing/chirping very loudly and when I went to look, the bird was out of the nest and sitting on a wire attached to the house just chirping away.

The next day when I went to take a look at how the little ones were progressing, they were gone... all three.

Does the parent ever move their young?

I even went outside to see if they fell out onto the lawn but there was nothing there.

Does anyone know what could have happened?

Thanks for your story - depending on how old the babies were, a couple of things could have happened. If the young birds had got their feathers and were ready to leave the nest, then they could have grown up and gone.

On the other hand, if this happened so early this season, I suspect that some predator may have taken the chicks - a Crow, Blue Jay or Squirrel, perhaps.

I am sad that your little bird friends are gone, but the parent birds do have time to lay more eggs this season, and raise one or even two batches of eggs.

Thank you for telling us your story. I will also post this on our facebook page.

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starstarstarstarstar 		Three more missing robins
by: Anonymous

I wish someone could tell me what happened to the three babies that my busy robin was raising in her nest on top of a light fixture just outside my door. She (or he?) was good at trying to scare us away, but I heard a little tapping there in the night and next checked they were gone. Should I leave the nest for the next try? It was nicely sheltered from rain. This is from Lexington, Massachusetts. Amazed to have found comfort, through google, from Southern Ontario.
It is heartbreaking to follow the progress of the babies in their nest, and then they go missing, but I think it often happens that predators claim some of the youngsters. They may have better luck with their next clutch of eggs as they often raise two batches of babies in one year.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Momma Robin on video moving her baby
by: Kerry D

Maybe it was the dad ... but my neighbour knocked on my door as she found a newborn robin in the driveway. I looked back on my surveillance, and saw that an adult robin had put the 1 or 2 day old baby on the driveway and flew off. The baby actually moved quite a distance on its own over the course of the next several hours. By the time I picked it up to take it to the nest I'd been watching on my patio it had survived about 4 hours without any help at all. It found its way to some grass, so that must have helped it survive. ?? I knew this nest had recently hatched 3 eggs, so thought maybe a predator had taken off with a baby from that nest, but today I confirmed there are now 4 baby robins in the nest I'm watching! UNBELIVABLE but true!!! I looked back on the surveillance, and this adult robin came from an evergreen tree, and I saw it put the baby down on the cement. The momma and daddy of the nest I've been watching are now taking care of the added baby, and they are all doing very well!! They are all about the same size and stage of development....so quite the coincidence!! What a miracle!!
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starstarstarstarstar 		Where did they go?
by: Anonymous

3 robin eggs in nest, 2 hatched the next day the babies were gone and the one egg was still in there. That night it started to hatch, the mom was still around. The next morning we looked and that baby was gone? The mom is still coming to the nest and laying in it? Could she have moved them once they hatched? And now going to lay more eggs?

The parents can't move an egg or a newly hatched chick, so it is likely that a predator of some kind has taken the babies.

The parents will probably lay another clutch of eggs now.

It is always so sad when this happens.
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starstarstarstarstar 		3 fallen baby Robins
by: Anonymous

Our nest had 3 robin babies on top of a downspout. The parents were busy feeding worms for 3 or 4 days. The nest was fine this morning but 3 hours later, I checked and the nest and babies had fallen to the ground. The three babies were too young to have feathers. Sadly, they were laying there and not moving and seem to be deceased. I can't understand what might have happened. I feel for everyone here because it is very sad.
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starstarstarstarstar 		One of 4 went missing only 3 left
by: Anonymous

I had 4 baby robins in the nest outside my window they don't have any feathers in so they are not fledging never the less they are not tiny, I could probably only fit one in a hand. Today the parents got loud ant were freaking out, I know the couple so they usually don't flip out over me being by the hatchlings, turns out it was because the 4th one went missing there are only three now, was it a predator? It is June so idk...if so how do I prevent another attack?
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starstarstarstarstar 		Missing Baby Robins
by: Carolyn

I just noticed last week that a robin had four babies in a nest right outside my home office window. They looked to be "teenagers" (not newborns but not adults). They were up pretty high in a safe and sturdy crook of a tree branch. Yesterday I went to see if they were ok and they were all gone! I don't see anything there at all. I'm hoping that maybe they fledged. I don't see any signs of them on the ground, either. Sigh.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Day old Robins missing (predator?)
by: Jennifer

Just lost my day old Robins to a probable predator! The three hatched in a 24 hour time period, the last of the three less than 3 hours old. Left for 2 hours, then checked nest and they were gone. Anything I can do to prevent this if they lay more eggs this season? The nest is in a Bush next to my living room window. Very sad...

Hello Jennifer, that is really sad and I'm not sure that I can think of anything that can prevent this happening. If the nest can be seen by predators, is it possible for you to shield it some way - maybe with a piece of wood placed nearby or something like that. Blue Jays and Crows are often responsible for missing chicks.
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starstarstarstarstar 		This just happened to us
by: Anonymous

Thank you for sharing your story. I just noticed the nest outside my daughter’s bedroom window is empty. The robin babies were only 5 days old. I am grieving and dreading having to break the news to my daughter. It helps to know we are not alone. Nature can be so cruel. Sometimes I really don’t like this whole food chain thing. :-(
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starstarstarstarstar 		Baby Robin disappears
by: Anonymous

We too had a nest built on top of our garage light, a perfect spot with heat from light on the cold nights we have been having and away from backyard raccoons etc, only 1 egg hatched and the mother & father were feeding constantly, I saw the beak pop up looking for food, then nothing that evening. I went up with a ladder and the nest was empty. I am so upset, I wonder what happened, lots of black birds around ... so sad.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Same thing
by: Anonymous

I had 3 eggs in my backyard rose bush and every day I looked to see if they hatched. One day I came to the Cardinals nest and there was only 2 the following day there was only 1 egg the next day it hatched it was cute and the following day the chick was gone I hope it did not get eaten by a predator.
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starstarstarstarstar 		My baby robins gone :(
by: Jules

We watched a pair of robins build a nest on our window sill in a shaded spot and they had 4 eggs and we watched the babies born. She was sitting on her 2 days old babies last night and then this morning the babies are nowhere to be found. The mum was sitting in a tree looking sad and bewildered. The dad was nowhere to be found. So sad, we were so excited to watch them grow up and take flight.
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starstarstarstarstar 		4 Robin Babies - Missing
by: Anonymous

My robin parents had 4 eggs ... they hatched two days ago and today, and mom and dad were watching and feeding their young. Everything was fine this morning... by 6:00 pm, the nest was empty - my heart was broken.
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starstarstarstarstar 		My baby Robins
by: Anonymous

Mama Robin had her two babies today. Daddy Robin sitting next to her. Daddy flew off and came back with a worm in his mouth. The babies were just hours old. I thought what good parents they are. The next morning the nest was empty. Our heart breaks as there is no sign of the babies on the ground.
A predator must have gotten them. The mother is near and we hear her chirping cry.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Baby Robins missing
by: Anonymous

Same for us. We had a nest with two baby birds. Two days after hatching, I went out to check on them, and they were nowhere in sight. We are so sad to think that a predator got them.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Same for us
by: Anonymous

Last night mother Robin was tending her very newly hatched young. I went about my potting of plants. This morning I took another opportunity to take a peek. Totally vacant and very clean nest remained. I did hear a ruckus of some sort in the early hours.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Missing baby Robins
by: Anonymous

Our family too has been tracking the progress of a young robin family who built a best outside our front door. Mama had 4 eggs and 2 hatched on Sunday, much to the kids excitement. Then on Monday after noticing both mama and papa were keeping away but squawking, I took a peek and there was not a baby birdie in sight. I looked around and finally found one baby on the ground and very cold (I think dead). I didn't know what to do, so I put it back in the nest. Mama still hasn't come back and we are heartbroken.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Sad Family of Bird Lovers, Too
by: Anonymous

We had the same thing happen at our home. There was a very persistent mother/father robin building a nest inside of our garage on top of our garage door track -- the chain moved right through the nest, shaking the whole thing every time we opened or closed the garage door! We repeatedly took it down before she could lay the eggs. Eventually they nested in a planter right next to our door - still not the best site since we are a busy family! But we all loved watching the progress. Even the our little ones could see into the nest when we lifted them since it was only 4 ft off the ground. Each day we watched and eventually 4 babies were born. Then on Friday 2 babies were gone. A few hours later the other 2 were gone. They were only 5 days old, so much too young to have left the nest on their own. I'm sure it was the Starlings or crows. I had hoped that since the nest was so close to our door the other birds would have stayed away. Needless to say there was much crying yesterday at our loss in this adventure.

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