I am so broken up about this. I realize there's a chain of life and all, but I need to know if there's a chance that some made it.

We have a covered, wrap around porch. Mama robin built a nest in one of my hanging plants. It was a great spot as the roof covered the nest and squirrels and cats couldn't get into the plant (we have a hanging bird feeder in a similar spot, and the squirrels go nuts trying to get to it, but they can't).

Mom swoops in from the left. She comes in under the roof, waits on the deck and then goes into the nest.

Dad usually swoops in from the right. He has a few perches to the right of the house.

Mom laid 4 perfect eggs. The started hatching 13 days later. Mom & Dad were extremely attentive those first days. I got a few pics of Mom & Dad bending into the nest tending to their tiny pink babies.

As the babies approached their 2nd week, Mom & Dad came in with food less and less. I was worried that mom was gone. (as an aside, she seemed really fat after they were born and suddenly slimmed down a few days ago). I think she stopped sleeping in the nest a few days ago (we can only observe from a window).

The 2 oldest babies have been getting restless. They stand up a lot of flap their wings. We knew they would be leaving soon.

Today would be their 14th day since hatching. I woke up at 6 this morning and checked the nest. All 4 babies were gone. Two large strands of the plant were broken off and laying on the floor below. There were large globs of poop on the porch under the plant. There was no poop on the bush in front or to the right. There was one baby feather in the nest.

I looked around and saw nothing else. Later, I found 3/4 of a perfect baby robin on the ground about 6 feet from the nest. His wing was a few inches from him. I searched the area and found no more bird parts. The woods were silent.

Dad came back later this afternoon and called out those warning whistles when danger is around (I'm the danger lol). He hung out on his usual perches.

Mom was no where to be found today.

My husband thinks since there was no more bird pieces that only one was grabbed. He thinks the other three got away. Two could have been ready fly. Could they have safely flown off in the dark of night?

This will sound crazy, but with the poop on the inside of the deck, I think it was Mom coming in to scare off the predator. I think it dropped the one bird while the others flew away. My only problem with the poop was that it was much bigger than her regular droppings. Did something larger swoop in from under the roof and poop while it was attacking baby birds?

If any survived, where would they be? I trust they have a new nest somewhere until they are full grown. Mom could be watching over them at their new digs. Or am I totally crazy for thinking that? This happened the night before I expected them to leave their baby nest. I know nature can be cruel, but I have to know that there's a possibility some made it out alive. I cannot believe how sad this is.