They generally stay in the nest for a couple of weeks before they fledge, Gloria.

They do stay together after they fledge, Katie. The mother may get to work on starting her next brood, but the father tends to stay near to the little ones while they adapt to their big, new world.

Do fledglings stay close together after leaving the nest? Had a robins nest above my garage lights and all three babies were thriving. The day came that they fledged, but I’ve only been able to spot one of them and it doesn’t look like mom and dad are feeding anyone else. Is it possible that the other two are around close by?

Wow! I’ve never heard of a robin, that far north, laying eggs at this time of year.

Ours drop down to the deck too, and it’s quite a drop, but they always just hop and flutter away. They’re very resilient. Some of them actually get the hang of fluttering their wings and manage to land out in the grass or even fly out into the yard.

Aw, I love this story, Michele!

Oh how exciting to have baby cardinals!!

Oh I know. We have robins every year, several times a year. Some parents can be really skittish/nervous and aggressive. Others are totally laid back.

Cheryl,
We raised a 2 day old robin I did call he rangers office (I was living in PA at the time) and he told me to leave it, it was against the law to hand raise it and that I could go to jail. Oh well, he would have to find me first! He did extremely well and after he grew up he would come to our deck every season. All we had to do was say Cheep Chirp in our back yard and if he was around he would fly to our deck/us, so freakin amazing. He’d land on our hand or especially my oldest s head. I have a pic at home (I’m at work now). I’ll see if I can upload it tmrw.It was a great experience for my children. My gram always raised birds or other creatures if they needed assistance.

Ingrid Tower

Yes, ours often return to the same nest for the 2nd and 3rd brood of the season, Judith. This year, we thought she was going to, as she came back and sat in the nest several times when she was preparing for her 2nd brood, but I think the temperature up under the roof of the deck was too hot, so she built another nest in a nearby bush and instead.

Oh my goodness! What an exciting experience! I love the name!!

You should be able to go in your shed. Just be gentle when you swing the door open and consolidate trips. They often make a nest on the light right next to my back door that I use several times a day. They fly away but come back. I read part of the benefit of nesting close to humans is that it helps keep crows away. I actually put up a nesting box a little off from my door, under the shade and with overhand from the rain, and she nesting there this year.

Hi Jackie! I just did some reading, and I’ll have to add these facts to my post. Once the babies fledge, their parents feed them for a few days. The mother will soon leave them to lay a new clutch of eggs, but they’ll continue to learn from other robins and from their father until he leaves to help look after the new round of babies.

Oh no. I’m so sorry they’re gone, Larry. Sadly, a predator probably found them. Squirrels, blue jays and crows are the likely culprits. 🙁