We get lots of summer birds in Gloucester, including the American Robin – to us, this Robin is a Blackbird with a red breast. It’s Blackbird sized (much bigger than British Robins), with a very similar “scolding” call when disturbed.
One pair of Robins has been trying for a couple years now to make a nest under our deck-by-the-house. They try to build a nest of dry leaves on a ledge where one of the support posts meets the deck framing – trouble is, the ledge is only a couple inches deep, and their nest is much bigger … we end up with a pile of leaves on the ground under the deck (and presumably some very frustrated birds!)
Last year, Margaret downloaded a design for an American Robin nest and built it; we fitted it right next to the ledge, but the birds continued to try and build on the ledge, ignoring the nest!
This year, they’re back again, collecting & piling dead leaves which fall to the ground. Again, we felt sorry for them, so this year I cut and screwed an “extension” ledge around the original, to give them a depth of 6″ or so. Within a couple of hours, they adopted their new home, and today seem to be doing well with nest construction:
In the picture, you can see the new piece of wood; it’s hard to see just how narrow the original piece was, but it was not wide enough for their nest – which only just fits on this new ledge!
Hopefully, they will be successful with raising a family of little Robins, and maybe there will be more pictures later in the year (see previous pictures of American Robins nesting outside Pat & Dave’s house).
(and yes, it’s a nod to that old British TV show)
M&I / GBMINI 