Robin Story Review

May 22, 2012

A visual review of the robin story!

An Empty Nest

May 21, 2012

The nest on the fire escape is empty. Ms. Outterson thoroughly checked the playground for the fledgelings early this morning, but they were nowhere to be found. We wish them well as they begin the next phase of their lives as independent young robins. We have learned so much together!

Children in ECCBrimmer discuss the whereabouts of the fledgelings:

 

Tallulah- They must have gone to China where they have more friends.

Charlotte L.- It was time for them to go look for their own food.

Anshul and Jack- They went to North Quincy.

Bibi- Maybe they flew to the jungle because there are more trees and worms there?

Zoe- Maybe they flew off to go find worms?

Chase- They flew away cause they were all growed up!

Ahmed- The birds went to North Africa.

Mariella- They went to get more worms.

Caleb- Maybe they went to North Carolina?

Bruce- I think they went to North Dakota.

Kate- I bet they went to New Hampshire cause my grandpa has a bird feeder and there is lots of food there.

Charlotte S. - Did they go to South Africa because there are more worms there?

Ben- Brazil, they went to Brazil.

This updated picture of the cardinal nest sent by Bruce and Winston's mom Daphne helps us remain connected to new life in the nest. She wrote:

Hi, here are the cardinals at age 5 days or so. I guess they
fledge at 7-10 days. They thought my camera was their parent. Males feed the
babies for the first two of three broods, then the parents share the duty on
the last brood. I can't tell who is feeding this one; I have seen both
parents around the nest.

We also hope you enjoy this fun robin nest video sent by Sarah Mulrooney:

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9479342&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0

Fledgeling Update

May 18, 2012

The fledgling that fell out of the nest yesterday was taken by Deborah Starr, a parent in ECCCharles who is a vet, to Tufts Wildlife Rehabilitation center today. She agreed with Ms. Kavanaugh that the leg is not in great shape, but is confident that the youngster will be in good hands. 

Meanwhile, the other two robins seemed quite content to remain in the nest today. It was warm on the fire escape, so the nestlings seemed to cool down by keeping their beaks open in order to regulate their body temperature. Ms. Pandit also reported that she saw one of them try to catch an insect that flew by.

 At Meeting this morning in ECCBrimmer, we told the following story about yesterday's dramatic developments with the fledgelings:

Yesterday, when we arrived to school we noticed that the robins had grown quite big and and were barely fitting in the nest.  One was moving toward the edge and raising its body up and trying to move. It looked like it had been having trouble moving its foot.  Mr. Rogers had taught us that sometimes its best to just watch and not do anything right away.  The problem with the nest at school is that the mama bird built her nest in the city, next to a building that is full of humans.  All of the people want to do what they think is best for the bird and the mama bird wants to do the best for her babies as well. Ms. Mulrooney noticed that one of the baby bird's foot was tangled in a piece of plastic.  Plastic is something that is not made from nature. It is something that people make and it is a hard thing to throw away because it does not go back into the earth.  The mama bird thought it would be something good to build her nest with, but the plastic is stronger than a piece of grass and it had become very tangled around the baby bird's foot.  We made a decision to cut that piece of plastic so that the bird could go free.  Ms. First went out and cut that piece of plastic to free the bird.  The bird flew down to the ground and landed on its feet.  Ms. Pandit cleared the playground, as many kids were out at recess at the time.  The baby bird hopped around on the ground and the mama bird came over to feed it.  As it turns out, the baby bird's leg was very hurt and it was having a hard time moving around. When Mr. Rogers and Ms. Kavanagh arrived, Ms. Kavanagh determined that the bird needed some help.  She took the bird home with her and began to look for a wildlife rehabilitation facility where experts can help wild animals get well. The important thing is that the bird gets the help that it needs so that it can return to the wild. The other two baby birds appear to be doing well and are still in the nest. 

The children had many questions. We answered their questions as honestly as we could!

Bella:  My brother thinks the leg got cut off. She (Ms. Kavanagh) took it home and then she is going to let it go.

Charlotte S:I have some bird eggs in my house and they are all around my plants. 

Ahmed: I know that one of the birds that had the plastic on it, broke its leg. It think it was hopping around on the structure and it went on the monorail!

Mariella: Why can't it just stay where it is and we can just take care of it? How did the bird get the plastic on it?

Ben: We don't even know what the bird likes. 

Chase:  My sister told me that you (Ms. First) cut the cord. We have to pick up plastic to help the earth.

Caleb: The scissors can cut the plastic very gently. Is laying eggs private?

Zoe: What would the mama bird think when she saw the baby fall to the ground? How did you climb out to the fire escape?

Charlotte L:Why did Ms. Panda say that everyone needed to come off the playground?

Anshul: My mom had a picture of the eggs and the birdies.When I was walking to my old school, I saw a robin got caught in a balloon, but an airplane hit the balloon and the bird is free.

Bibi: My brother told me that one of the science teachers got the bird with the broken leg. Is the leg broken?

Kate: There has to be a kind of bird that can be a pet.  It can't just be a bird that's outside.

Jack:  My sister told me that the leg got loose. 

Bruce: My brother told me that Ms. Kavanagh brought the fourth bird to the science class.

Tallulah: How did the toes get tangled in the plastic?

Several children said that they would like to clean trash up from the playground to make sure that birds would not use it in their nests, so that's what we did. We hope that the remaining fledgelings enjoy the quiet of the playground over the weekend to hop around and learn to fly!

Ms. Pandit's office is up here. The red, those are the bricks. The black part is the gate that's protecting it from predators. ~Mariella

 

A Leap of Faith

May 17, 2012

Today we faced questions of how to best interact with wild birds in an urban environment. This morning one of the robins appeared to be testing his wings by flapping and hopping around the edge of the nest. Later in the afternoon we realized that the foot of one of the fledglings was tangled in a piece of plastic in the nest.

Ms. Pandit, Ms. Mulrooney, and Ms. First decided it would be best to cut the plastic string that was tangled around the foot of the robin. Immediately after Ms. First cut the plastic that was tangled around the bird's foot, it fluttered to the ground below the fire escape. 
The young bird chirped loudly and was visited and fed by mom. However, as it hopped around the playground, we noticed that it continued to have trouble with it's foot.  A short time later, Ms. Kavanaugh, a science teacher, assessed the situation. She is providing care for the robin. We hope that the other two robins have an easier time with their departure from the nest!

Keeping watch

May 16, 2012

The three robins are spending time preening their feathers and testing their wings. Mama and papa robin are off the nest finding food that they bring back for the babies every ten minutes or so. 

Checking a robin growth chart

Getting a closer look

Dad returns with dinner

Mama cleans the nest

Filling the nest

Ms. Pandit, Ms. Harris Frohlich, and Mr. Morgan checking on the youngsters

Although saying good-bye will be difficult, we are getting ready. Teachers roped off a learning-to-fly zone on the playground with caution tape in anticipation of the big leap. Students from all grades have begun to gather on top of the structure during recess to see the fledglings take flight!

Birds of a feather flock together

May 14, 2012

 

The robins grew so much over the weekend! Grey feathers have replaced the yellow fuzz that covered their bodies. Mom and dad are busy foraging for food all day and mom is rarely sits on the nest anymore. In the next few days, the youngsters will test their wings and leave the nest. In faculty meeting on Friday afternoon, teachers and administrators discussed a plan to monitor the playground to keep the the fledglings safe until they are strong, independent fliers.

During a visit to observe the nest today, Caleb from ECC noticed that there are three instead of four robins. He theorized,"One was born early, so it grew feathers and flew away faster."

Robins and other birds were a popular theme during journal time in ECCBrimmer today. Bibi Noury-Ello told this tale of mistaken identity:

 Once upon a time there was a family of robins. Three little blue eggs hatched out of the mama robin. Only, one little bird seemed to have something wrong with him...that little duckling looked really different. The duckling didn't have a sharp nose, he didn't even have a beak! He had a little ball on his nose. He also had little feathers sticking up from his hair. He was not a robin. The mama thought there were three eggs, but there were actually two, the other one was a white egg. The ducky told Ms. Swan (because swans lay white eggs), "Is this your egg, Ms. Swan? It's white. I lay blue eggs." The three swans and the three ducks lived happily ever after.    Bibi

Kindergarten Brimmer shared this excerpt from their daily blog about their students' 

concern for the robins:

The rain came down really hard on everyone as the doors opened for school
this morning. This made Clare worry about the robins. Several children
decided they should make a new nest in case something happened to the
robin's nest or they got hurt in the storm. They chose items from our
recycled materials to create it. We looked at the real robin's nest on our
windowsill for ideas about what they might need. They also wanted to collect
some worms from the playground to feed the babies. For now, the worms are in
soil in a bag. The children made a separate section of the nest just for the
food and they would like to put them inside, then put the nest out on the
playground in case the robins need it. 

Poetry

May 11, 2012

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

                   ---  Emily Dickinson

The robins' brown feathers are so much more visible today and their eyes are wide open! We could also see clearly that there are three instead of four baby birds in the nest. 

Here are a couple poems the Kindergarten Brimmer students wrote as a group about the robin. The first was an adjective poem: 

Robins

Black, has wings

Orange belly, round head,

Tweet tweet,

Has blue eggs

The second poem is an acrostic:

Robins fly
Over our playgrounds
Bringing food back
Into their 
Nest

Three or Four?

May10, 2012

The robins are getting bigger each day. We began to realize today that there may be three instead of four babies. It is hard to get a good look because they are often cuddled up together. We had concerns that one was born too early, so it's possible that it did not survive. The rest of the brood is looking strong and filling up the nest!

A Bird's Eye View

May 9, 2012

The baby robins have grown overnight! They can lift their necks for food and their feathers are beginning to grow in. The mother and father robin are making many trips for food, and the worms and caterpillars (we think the bright green stuff in the mom's beak are caterpillars!) seem plentiful.

Nest by Chase

Open wide!

Observations by Mariella

Nest by Jack

 Ms Pandit enjoys a birds eye view of the nest! Today she sent this observation:

"I noticed today that the mama bird closed her eyes and was trying to take a
quick nap but her little babies kept poking her belly so she couldn't really
rest!"

How much do baby robins eat?

May 8, 2012

Mama bird trying to get comfortable!

We noticed the mother robin making many trips from the nest to get food for the babies. She appeared to be off the nest every 10-15 minutes.

For the first four days of a nestling's life, the parent birds regurgitate partly digested food into each baby’s mouth. By five days of age, the nestlings get earthworms that parents break into small mouthfuls. The babies eat more each day. Soon parents give them whole worms and large insects. Each young robin may eat 14 feet of earthworms in a two week nest life—and worms are not even their main food! How can parents keep up? Both parents feed the babies. A robin might make 100 feeding visits to its nest each day. There's no time to go far on a food hunt. That’s why a good territory is important to robins in spring. 

                                                                                                                        Journey North

Baby Birds!

May 7, 2012

Before school began there was one blue egg left in the nest and lots of fuzz. By mid-morning all four eggs had hatched and we were able to see four baby robins!

The proud parents

A nest full of fuzzy babies

"Where's our breakfast?"

A cardinal nest photo from Bruce and Winston's yard

The baby birds will eat, sleep, and grow in the nest for about two more weeks. We are having so much fun watching them! For more information on robins check the Journey North website: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/search/Robin.html

Cautiously hopeful!

May 5, 2012

Late Friday afternoon, First Grade Charles teachers noticed a big change in the nest! One of the robin's eggs hatched! We were all worried that it might be too early for the baby to be born, however we do not know exactly when the first egg was laid. It's possible that it incubated 11-12 days.

After the mother left the nest for a quick snack, Mr. Rogers decided to gracefully climb out of Ms. Pandit's window to take a quick picture.

Moments after he snapped this photo, the little chick gave us an encouraging sign by raising it's head. Just after Mr. Rogers clambered across the window sill, the mother bird returned to keep her brood warm.

As Mrs. Outterson has pointed out to her students, not all seeds that we plant sprout. Similarly, there is the possibility that of all the eggs that a female robin lays in her several broods each spring, not all of them will successfully hatch. We are so curious to see what is happening in the nest on Monday!

Many Questions

 May 4, 2012

A large nest made in after school!

Questions and conversations about robins and the nest are happening in many classrooms. In Kindergarten Brimmer children wondered:

How do robins protect the nest if a predator comes?

What is a predator for them? -I think it would be like a hawk or a falcon- Bennett
 
Why do the chicks leave the nest if they are just babies?  Clem
 
How do the eggs turn blue?  Riana
 
What does the mom¹s call to the dad sound like?  Anna
 
What if the chicks fly away when the parents go get food?  Skylar
 
How do robins find shade for the nest? What if the babies try to fly too early and fall? Laura
 
How did they make the inside of the nest so round and nice?  Memo
 
How is the egg made, and how does it come out of the mom?  Lucas

Yesterday Mr. Rogers came in to talk with ECCBrimmer  about the robin's nest and answer some of the questions we've been wondering about.

Mr. Rogers: There is a mama and papa robin. The robins mate and then the mama lays her eggs.  

Mariella: She lays one egg, two eggs, three eggs, four eggs, and then she stops.

Mr. Rogers: Robins used to be called the harbingers of spring.  You used to see a robin in March and know that spring was coming soon.  No longer because so many of them stay all winter. A lot of robins still fly down to North Carolina South Carolina, Florida, and as far south as Guatemala and South America.

Mr. Rogers: The eggs take two weeks to hatch and then another 2-3 weeks before the babies fly off. Then the mama and papa robin then make another brood. They often use the same nest in the same season but then make new ones the next year. Robins often have up to three broods in a season.

  

Bibi: Do robins pick up their nests and move it?

Mariella: They could put it on their back and move it. The male could put it on her back.

Mr. Rogers: Robins are also birds that start their nests with mud and it weighs as much as or more than the mama and papa bird together.  Could you pick up two of your classmates and fly? So the nests are too heavy for them to move.

Bibi: Do robins have summer houses?

Mr. Rogers: That nest is their summer house.

Chase: Some robins are so sensitive that you can't touch them.

Mr. Rogers: You are right, we should not touch them. In fact, when baby birds fledge, they often spend a day on the ground, so we will need to be very careful on the playground once they hatch.

Connections to the Nest

May 3, 2012

The mama sat for long periods today. She appears to be getting used to the activity of the playground.

Several families have sent contributions to our bird study. 

What's Inside? 

In response to ECC's drawings of what they think is happening in the egg, Damien Bates, father of Tallullah, sent in photos of quail embryos that he took as part of his PhD thesis.

Andra Mataliano, mother of Mariella, sent this video of a mother robin feeding her baby in a nest made on the window ledge of their home:

 

Nesting

May 2, 2012
The weather began today with more rain and ended with some sunshine peeking through the clouds. This morning Ms. Ellington noticed the mother robin sleeping with her head tucked under her wing.First Grade Charles recorded their observations of the nest in their daily log. 

 

ECC Charles children shared some questions about the robin as they looked out the window.

Esme: Is it a boy or a girl?
Mrs. Vogel: Is it sitting on eggs?
Henry: I’m wondering if it’s a boy or a girl – who’s getting the food?
Maddie: Is the mama bird laying eggs right now?

In ECC, the children worked to create representations of the nest using clay, twigs, dried grass, yarn, and shredded paper. 

ECC Charles nest made from materials collected at Recess

Mine is a swan's nest with 13 eggs   Chase ECC Charles

"It has six eggs. The mama robin went to get the baby some food. The babies will hatch in a few days. The mama had to be careful and quick"  Bibi ECC Brimmer

It has four eggs. 1,2,3, 4. It's just like a real robin's nest.Mud helps it stay together. Mariella ECC Brimmer

Robin in the Rain

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

What a devoted mom! Mama robin was on the nest with her wings spread, sheltering her eggs all day today. According to our calculations, today is day three of the incubation period. According to the sites we've checked, the incubation period should last for 12-14 days.

Sophia's Robins

Mariella's Robin on the Fire Escape