I had an interesting situation at our house. Bought a flower planter and left it on our front porch about chest high off the porch. I saw a bird's nest appear a couple weeks later but never saw a bird so I tossed the nest into the bushes to mulch. Then I saw the flowers were trampled and looked to see why and found 3 Robin's eggs in the flower bed. I used utensils to retrieve the nest from the bushes and carefully laid the 3 eggs into the nest. All the while the mama Robin was squawking at me. I checked and saw the bird returned to the nest and was doing some tidying up. Then low and behold she reclaimed the nest. Later that same day I saw 4 eggs as she apparently had one in reserve. She is nesting nicely now and we can't wait to see her little hatchlings come to life. I did handle the nest by hand at first when I tossed it but who knows if the bird cared. It makes sense that birds don't have a sense of smell.

organic_nut I appreciate your position. I don't constantly water my perennials. However, newly planted trees and shrubs do need diligent watering the first year or so and so do newly planted vegetable plants. If she built her nest in my perennial border this would not be a problem. But she built it right in the middle of the vegetable garden with tons of newly-planted herbs (the lack of snow this winter killed off many of my established plants) and all of my tomatoes, peppers, squash and tomatillos. I don't know if you grow vegetables, but they need water during really hot dry spells.

Yes I can and Good point, exactly why I said it's ok to disagree and that PMrs and Bluebirders go to great lengths to protect their birds. The difference is you KNOW what bird laid the cowbird egg. Lets put it this way, you know the cowbird egg, if hatched is going to kill the host birds babies so 1 cowbird lives and 3-4-5 other babies die. That cowbird has laid many eggs in many nests we dont see ....we know this, a whole nest is not lost, that cow bird WILL have offspring. 1 egg not being allowed to hatch is much different than removing a whole nest, especially when you dont even know what bird built it. My biggest problem with this is.... a PMr should understand the challenges birds face from pesticides and loss of habitat to upity people that tear down nests because they dont want a little poop on their porch. You know as well as I do the proper thing to do would have been to ID the bird and move the nest to an appropriate place if nessary. You also know that people who know nothing about birds come in and read these posts to learn, what kind of message is Casi's post sending? I got no argument with her protecting her PMs, just with the fact she did not spend one second to try to let both nests flourish.

Thanks birdguy. Since time was of the essence, I looked further online and was able to find a NY State Wildlife Rehabilitator and got her on the phone. I was only seeing one Robin adult on the ground, sitting in the corner of the garden below the pear tree. It had been sitting there for several minutes, which seemed odd. I had seen either this one or another hopping around, but for over an hour there was no adult getting INTO the tree and taking care of the one hungry chick I could see. She recommended that I go outside and walk near the adult that was sitting in the garden to see if it would fly to the nest or away. When I went out to test the situation, it hopped away and hid under another bush as I approached, and I could see that one of the wings had feathers askew. The rehabber thought that I should get a towel and try to bring both the wounded adult and the remaining chick(s) to her house where she rehabbed many birds, since nobody was getting into the tree to feed the chicks and the adult may also be in danger. I went into the house to get some boxes and towels (she recommended separate boxes for the chick and adult to reduce stress on the adult), came out and the adult was no longer in the area. Perhaps he/she was just mildly injured and could not make it into the tree, but could fly or hop away to a more secluded spot to recuperate and rest. At any rate, no adult Robin was in the picture, the chick had not eaten in some time, so I got up on a stool and took the nest down. As I suspected, there was only one chick in the nest. It was only partially covered in a soft downy fuzz and was mostly pink and grey. So, my suspicions that there had been some sort of battle for the nest and chicks the night before were correct. Two chicks were taken, and either the parents had decided to abandon ship or were injured beyond ability to care for the remaining chick. Perhaps that injured adult that was hanging around was hoping to get the strength to care for the chick, but was unable to do so. I feel that somehow I was meant to see the situation. I took the nest in a towel, covered the top (left space for air) and put it in the box gently, and hit the highway to get to the rehabber. I could hear the chick chirping occasionally, and from time to time it would lift its head with open mouth waiting to be fed. It was heartbreaking. At every red light I looked down to confirm that the chick was still breathing, which I could easily see through the gap in the towel. I got to the rehabbers house and she couldn't be nicer. She had many small chicks of all varieties in paper towel-lined baskets in bins, with heating pads underneath to keep them warm. She immediately gave the chick some fluids with minerals subcutaneously, and said that you have to wait a while for that to take effect before giving other foods or the chick would not digest the foods properly. I had to leave shortly due to some business, but I'm waiting to hear if the chick made it through the day. The rehabber said that some chicks will make it for a few days, but then will fail to thrive and not make it, so I think she was preparing me for a 50/50 chance. The rehabber told me that every spring and summer she gets many Robin chicks with deformed feet, and that she suspected lawn and garden chemicals since Robins eat mostly worms and other insects that may have consumed these chemicals as well. She said that veterinarians always dismiss her theory about the chemicals, but I don't! I resolve to stop using any lawn chemicals from this day forward (my garden areas are already chemical-free). I have learned a lot from this episode, I hope the chick makes it, and next time I hear such a screetching sound and a nest is reachable, I will not hesitate to help if I can help. I feel so bad for the little family that I photographed so happily the day before. I know it's nature's way and that not all chicks will make it, and that there are eternal rivalries for food and territory among and between species, but it's still sad this evening when I look out the kitchen window and don't see the nest, the attending adults, and the chicks. Perhaps I'll prune the branches of that pear tree to discourage other robins from using it, as this is clearly not a good territory for them to nest in with so many bluejays and starlings around. Thanks again birdguy.