Watch Out... Robin's Nest Below!

Time: When time allowed from approximately 6:58 a.m. until 12:00 Noon

Weather Report: Cloudy, 54°F, 84% Humidity, Winds: From NW @ 12 mph; feels like 54°F.

Location: Outside the window of our classroom, roughly nine feet above the ground in the windowsill of a window into the stairwell.

Bird Species/Markings/Features: 1 female American Robin (Turdus migratorius) and four eggs.

Sights/Sounds/Activities: Wednesday afternoon, while talking with Danielle and Morgan during a down moment in class, one of them observed something of interest just outside our classroom window (and down one floor): an American Robin's (Turdus migratorius) nest with four turquoise eggs nestled in the corner of a windowsill.

The window is roughly nine feet high so not easily reachable by students and therefore safe. It was also interesting to note that we had not been the first to make the discovery (and as one who looks out the window quite a bit, I'm a little ashamed to admit that I, too, had not noticed it before!). As you can see from the pictures, several 8" x 11" papers are taped to the window immediately beside the nest, probably to both obstruct its being viewed by students in the stair well or from startling the nest's' inhabitants.


The following day, I snapped the photos in this post using my digital camera from our classroom window. Throughout the day we checked back with the nest and were glad to have the chance to get a picture of the "mother" bird in the nest on the eggs. (It took a few tries, as the windows tend to squeak when opened, so startled the bird away a few times!)

As a teacher I thought this situation (a nest with both eggs and mother intact directly outside our window) might provide an interesting teachable moment, so I will endeavor to follow the development of the situation and see where it goes!

Read Up and Write On!