Well yesterday was a sad day indeed. Momma Robin had not been in the nest most of the day or been around, and it was odd after all the cheeping and chirping. Then we saw her near the house digging for worms in a weed bin, with lots of water from the recent rain. But upon finding her worm she flew off in another direction not towards her nest. I finally investigated the nest and no cheeping or warning flights, one lonely egg with a couple of holes in it and no sign of the other two eggs that we know were there. I do not know what, why or how. I do know that the back deck is eerily quiet. I will do some research to see if I can find out what might have caused this to happen, but like hubby and I discussed - it likely happens a LOT in nature, but because of where she built the nest there was added protection from intruders. We will leave the egg for a day and then remove it and possibly the nest, as I do not know if she will return to this nest after her three egg tragedy.
I did find this and it repeats on the net Robin Information Page "Q. Will a blue jay steal eggs from a robin's nest? We have been watching two nests in our yard. Yesterday I found an egg in another part of the yard. I checked one of the nests and all four eggs were gone. For some reason I'm thinking blue jays will rob a robin's nest. Is that what happened?
A. The main predators of robin eggs are snakes, squirrels, blue jays, and crows. (Deer eat a lot of bird eggs and nestlings, too, but only from ground nests.) Snakes swallow eggs on the spot, and since you found one egg in another part of the yard, a snake most certainly wasn't the culprit. Squirrels usually stay up in branches, and seldom drop their eggs, so I'm betting it wasn't a squirrel, either. Jays and crows are both egg and nestling eaters, and so it's hard to be sure which species raided your nest. Robins actually appreciate having jays around as long as they stay away from their nests, because jays are good at warning about other dangers. But it's heartbreaking to lose the eggs or nestlings of any nest to predators. And the worst problem with crows and jays is that both species are highly intelligent. If you are studying the nests in your yard, be sure that there are no crows or jays watching you-if they figure out that you're watching nests, they may start watching for you to lead them to their next supper." from the link above.
Lady of the Oak
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