Do Robins Reuse Old Nests?
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European robin, AKA “Robin Redbreast” in Great Britain
British (European) Robins nests are protected by laws that provide people with factual guidelines for helping birds.
Whether it’s a nest built by a robin or a nest-box made by a human, how can you tell if a robin will reuse the nesting spot?
It depends on:
Whether the nest is made by a bird or by human
The area around it: food, shelter, other animals plants, materials, etc
The other nests the robin has built…
Robin Nest Facts
Robins prefer nesting closer to the ground than other tree-dwelling birds
Robins like tight spaces in quiet places: hedges, holes in tree trunks, log piles
Females construct, males forage and help collect materials
Robin eggs are a beautiful blue colour
Each nest will contain a maximum ‘clutch’ of 5 or 6 eggs
Each clutch weighs about the same as the robin who laid it
A robin will consider it a good year if 3 or 4 clutches are laid
4 days to complete a cup-shaped nest around 4 inches across; made from branches, moss, hair, fur, feathers, and other insulative materials
Nesting Habits of European Robins During…
January begins with robins choosing partners while scouting out locations to build nests when it’s warmer
February can be warm enough for early nesting (and sometimes warm enough in January) but food is still scarce, so most robins will still be scouting nest locations and marking out territories
March is when nest building usually begins, taking roughly 4 days to complete a cup-shaped nest around 4 inches across; made from branches, moss, hair, fur, feathers, and other insulative materials.
April will see one egg every morning per robin (if fed sufficiently) and each nest will contain a maximum ‘clutch’ of 5 or 6 eggs. A robin will consider it a good year if 3 or 4 broods are laid, with each clutch weighing roughly the same as the robin itself.
May, June, July are egg-laying months; full of all the perils of life: weather, predators, and humans
Robins in August are moulting: shedding and replacing feathers during these warm times ahead of winter
Robins in September are feasting (if not still moulting), dressed in fresh plumage, fattening up before cold kills crops and frost hardens the ground
Robins in October, November, and December are either hunkering down or collectively shifting to warmer regions, replaced by robins from colder regions. Robins don’t migrate in the usual way because a lot of them don’t budge from prime territory.
Do Robins Migrate?
While many don’t, robins can have winter nests in other parts of the UK/Europe.
But no, the majority of British robins don’t migrate at all.
Some, mostly female, just hop the English Channel, while some continue further south, which is part of the larger movement of bird species.
Also, robins you see in winter could actually be robins escaping colder climates (like Russia, Scandinavia, etc)
Information on Robin Nesting
Do Robins Mate for Life?
No, Robins do not mate for life, but they do remain ‘monogamous’ for the entire breeding season, including feeding and caring for fledglings.
It’s monogamy the way humans do it - multiple partners, but one at a time.
However, there’s no reason a pair can’t hook up multiple years if the right factors realign.
How Long Does it Take for Robin Eggs to Hatch?
Healthy female robins will lay once a day, with every robin egg taking around 13 days to incubate and hatch.
Mothers immediately eat the shell tol restore essential calcium used in forming eggs.
Temperature and the health of the mother impact incubation time. While predators, human activity, and normal environmental changes all decide the fate of the clutch.
As such, robins will lay multiple ‘clutches’ of eggs; with males often taking over the previous nest while the female lays the next bunch.
How Long Do Baby Robins Stay in the Nest?
Baby robins are blind, naked, vulnerable.
After 5 days their eyes start to open, opening fully around day 8.
By day 10, they are feathered; day 14 sees them physically equipped to fly but not without some practice and maybe a day or two of fattening up first.
Both parents will share duties, with the mother usually handing off when laying a new clutch.
Can You Touch a Robin’s Nest?
Robins have their own personalities and individually learned behaviors, so a robin may abandon any nest a person or predator is seen close to, immediately - or the robin may not care at all.
It will certainly notice, and might not return next year as a result because no potential threat is forgotten, even if the experiences so far were fine; less attention is always safer for nesting.
You won’t and can’t know the mind of the robin, and how it will interpret your actions, but you can know ahead of time that UK law will punish anyone for threatening the nests of these birds.
Protecting Robin Eggs
Robins are unsurprisingly protective of their eggs, even failed or empty eggshells are precious stores of calcium carbonate, a material they have labored to source bit by bit. Robins need their calcium creations far more than any collector does.
Yet, 40% of robins die every year, so ultimately many eggs will be abandoned, becoming food for the next bird.
Even keeping (especially trading) robin eggs in any form is illegal to protect robin eggs from capitalism, so destroy abandoned eggs found in nestboxes during September and January, else they will rot the box.
Cleaning Robin Nest Boxes
Think of nestboxes not as actual nests, but as a great place for a nest (and to hide in winter).
Such a good location that, ideally, the robin won’t need to do anything, but chances are that robins will build a nest in the box no matter how unnecessary.
In order to be used again, the box-for-nesting-in needs to be cleaned of everything that accumulates in ever the tidiest robin’s nest: decaying organic matter, parasites - threats to infrastructure and future brood health.
Clean Your Nestboxes in Autumn (Not Winter)
Cleaning a nestbox is a job best done in the autumn between nesting times and the coming winter months.
Robins mostly stay put in winter, so it’s highly likely they will use a nestbox to shelter during cold weather.
According to UK law, you are allowed to clear out old nesting material and deserted eggs between the first of August (better to wait until sept) and January 31st at the very latest.
Remove all organic materials to prevent rot, mold, stank
Use boiling water to destroy invisible parasites, fungi spores, etc
Eggs must be disposed of and can be composted, or simply returned to nature to break (Robins, like many birds, will eat eggshells in order to gain back some of the calcium they spent laying them, so most birds will be equally happy to eat them)
Wear gloves and a facemask as, even in tidy nests, harmful bacteria can breed quickly.