Robin Chicks to fledglings

A pair of robins built a nest in our magnolia tree during springtime. We left them alone until the week before fledging. I videotaped them on June 29th, and again on July 4th. In the video, you can see both the female (lighter colored breast) and the male (darker colored breast) feeding the chicks. After feeding the chicks, the parents poke around at the chicks' rear ends so that they poop. Then, the adults either eat the fecal sac, or take it away to drop it elsewhere. The fecal sac does contain nutrients. Yuck!

On the 4th of July, all the chicks had fledged the nest except for he who shall be called "Junior." Junior took his time. Mama flew in with one last grub for Junior to munch on, and then it was time for him to test his wings. Unfortunately, the camera's battery ran down before the fledging occurred. But, surely you can use your imagination to see a young robin fly from the nest. Bon voyage fledglings...