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QUESTION: About odd behavior of nesting Robins.

Robins_Egg_Blue

9 years ago

I observed a pair of American Robins displaying an interesting behavior.

The female was sitting on her nest, and the male was next to the nest. Both birds had their mouths open, and their feathers fluffed. The male was breathing heavily. They made no sounds. The two would touch beaks, then the male would turn his back to the female for a minute and "un-fluff" - only to repeat the process of fluffing up, touching beaks, and turning around. This process went on for at least ten minutes before the male flew away.

What type of behavior was this?

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Comments (9)

Robins_Egg_Blue
Original Author
9 years ago
The beak touch.
Robins_Egg_Blue
Original Author
9 years ago
Turning away.
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Fun to guess maybe, but since Papilio individuals fall within a size range for any species, it is pretty much impossible to say which species you saw from the information given. Could have been an individual anywhere between the low or high end of the size range of any species. So it's possible for adults in any of your species to be the exact same size. If the top end of size ranges are considered, size wise Papilio cresphontes is the largest Palilionidae in your area. But as Christie pointed out this is not what would be termed a black species. Your largest "black" species is Papilio glaucus, followed in turn by Battus philinor, Paipilio polyxenes and Papilio triolus. Pictures or if you could note characteristics a give a better description would probably solve the puzzle. Larry
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LOL lisa! hadn't thought about that possibility, you could be right! this is a brand spankin' new nest box i just put up a couple of weeks ago. the very day i put it up, this pair toured it, loved it, put earnest money down and moved in the next day. there was an ant inspection done (as per the contract for deed) and nary a one was found so i don't think it's that. seriously, this is the same pair of birds from last year. she builds the wimpiest nests you have ever seen. i have to be extremely careful when i open the box to check things because i am so afraid the whole thing will disintegrate if i so much as breathe! it would be virtually impossible to check for ants UNDER the nest. since i posted this morning, she has been in and out a few times and he has been feeding her. she does not, however, stay in there long. maybe it's because it's 85* out!
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It's hard to be patient, but I know they do things at their pace, not mine. I wonder how long the female will take to decide and start to build. I figure they'll pick one of the boxes, they have been looking for about a week now. I have some mealworms stashed away, so will put some out too. The male should remember the bowl, so hopefully it'll be an extra incentive. I am not sure whether to remove the nest with the 4 eggs. I'm really not 100% sure it's a different female, but all things point to that. I don't know why she would have abandoned the 4 eggs if it's the original female. If something were wrong with the nest would the male be going in there? I'm no expert so figure I should let them alone to figure things out. At any rate they have me totally confused, so am just going to watch and see what happens. I hope yours will start building soon, please let us know what happens, cabin gal
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We had on come in on our open porch and build a nest over an old barn window I had hung on the wall...She would fly away as we came in and out but she didn't abandon them. There were three little ones and they all left the nest as fledglings. I think she nested there for about three years in a row. But since the cat adopted us and our porch...she hasn't come back...I hope it is because she found a better place and not that our cat found a lunch.... patti
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Robins_Egg_Blue
Original Author
9 years ago
Alternate beak touch.

This post was edited by Robins_Egg_Blue on Mon, May 19, 14 at 0:13
surya55_gw
9 years ago
It might be some sort of bonding gesture. Your pics are stunning and captures the whole experience for us to see. Thank you so much.
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
9 years ago
Wonderful pictures! I searched and found references to "Ceremonial Gaping" in robins.

"Courtship includes courtship feeding, where the male feeds the female; ceremonial gaping, where the males and females approach each other and touch widely opened bills; and singing."

Hinterland Who's Who

Claire
eric580
9 years ago
Aww how cute lol
catherinet
9 years ago
Just curious if it's real hot where you live? Do they keep their mouths open even if the temp isn't real hot?
Robins_Egg_Blue
Original Author
9 years ago
Claire:

Thank you for the information!

Catherinet:

I am in Ohio. It hasn't been getting up much higher than the 70s lately - but I have seen the female with her mouth open while she sits on the nest sometimes. Seems to be a random thing.
Robins_Egg_Blue
Original Author
9 years ago
Surya55:

Thank you!

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