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General News · 20th June 2017
Ian Ross
Some robins have had a nest in the gable-end of our house for the last month or so, but just this last week we've noticed 5 or 6 new nests being build all around the eaves. Is there a nest-building workshop going on that we've not heard about or is there some more earthly explanation?
And how about those ravens? I assume all the noise and commotion is due to the juveniles and the fact that, being juveniles, they think every day is the weekend, but is this true? And, if so, when would these juveniles have been born and what, exactly, is all the fuss about?
Many Robins' nests
Comment by Chris Cooke on 2nd July 2017
I was in the lumber racks at Blue Jay Lake sometime last year and noticed a Robins nest on the last beam and partially built nests on the next 7 or so beans, in descending size/order from the final one, and it was stated that, especially when they begin building their nest, they forget exactly which beam they're meaning to be building on... it sure looked evident of this theory.
Of Robins and Ravens
Comment by Christian Gronau on 21st June 2017
American Robins (which really are Thrushes) in our area usually have two successive broods.
With an incubation time of only two weeks and another two weeks till the nestlings fledge, a brood can be raised to near independence in one month !
Robins almost always build a new nest for the second egg-laying (the first one may have gotten damaged, perhaps fouled and infested with parasites).
So what you are witnessing is the second nest building round, and it just so happens that your eaves have been determined to be perfect sites.
Common Ravens take longer to fledge their young : at least two months. But this year's new generation of Ravens is definitely out and about, and they are the noisy ones with the unpleasantly shrill voices. The young remain dependent on their parents for a couple of month, and their noisiness might be explained as a constant competition for parental attention and calls for more food.