Robins vs Mourning Doves – Who Will Win the Right to Nest?
We were excited to discover that birds wanted to nest in our geranium hanging basket again this year. T
he other day, I heard quite a ruckus out in the front yard. A pair of Robins and a pair of Mourning Doves were noisily discussing who was permitted to build a nest in one of our hanging baskets. Keep in mind there are two baskets, one on each corner of the house. Apparently, only one is suitable for nesting.
The birds dove at one another and squawked loudly shoving each other out of the basket. Finally, they all flew off. I figured they’d be back for further negotiations. However the next evening the Robin pair started carrying grass, twigs, string, straw and a shoestring to the hanging basket and began building their nest.
The Mourning Doves nested in that basket for years and years. There was only one summer several years ago, that a pair of Robins made it their home. Sadly, for the last two summers the hanging basket remained unoccupied.
Mourning Doves are quiet tenants and hatch three sets of two eggs during the summer. You wouldn’t know they were there unless you looked up as you walked in the door or saw them fly out of the nest. Never heard a peep out of their chicks either.
Now the Robins are a different story. They hatch only one set of three eggs and then they are gone. Robins are very noisy while building their nest, as if discussing the placement of every twig. When the chicks hatch, they cheep loudly every few hours and even while the parents feed them. The bigger they get the louder they get. If the parents are late, you can hear the chicks venting their displeasure.
My husband and I enjoy watching the progress, from the nest building to the hatching and then when the parents teach the chicks to fly.
There are several bird feeders in the back yard and lots of birds teach their young chicks to eat from the feeder as well as forage for food in the area. It is amusing to watch the parents try to teach the babies to eat at the feeders. The baby birds want the parents to feed them, and raise holy heck until the parents give in and fed them.
This only works for a little while and soon the parents refuse to feed them. This forces the baby birds to try to balance on the bird feeder’s pegs and eat at the same time, usually resulting in losing their balance and flying off. At that point, the parent birds will follow and feed them. They try over and over until the baby birds get the hang of it.
Since the Waldo Canyon and Black Forest wild fires, we seem to have a much more diverse population of birds than ever before. Have you noticed a change in the birds visiting your feeders or yard?
Our dog watches all this, never bothering the birds. But let a squirrel enter the yard and its game on!
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Posted in My Say What Blog, Uncategorized by Tena Stetler with 4 comments.
I was wondering, Right now i have a mourning dove nesting on the front porch in the rafters… They come everyyear and it is so nice to open the door and speak sweetly to them and greet them. I hav e learned so much . Right now as i write this, a Robin has started to build a nest right next door with a small beam separating the two, The cannot see each other , Kinda like a condo..sepatated by a wall. I hope the Robin does not cause harm to the mouring dove as she or he has been sitting for a couple of weeks. I hope the two can co-habitate.I was wondering what you think about this. i have not found any information on nesting in very close proximity,with different cells. It is a beautiful thing .
We have had the same experience, only on baskets hanging on opposite sides of the house. One year the Robins beat the Mourning Doves to their regular basket and built their nest there. We had some squabbles that year. But usually they ignore each other. So fun to watch!
Good article. I will be facing many of these issues as well..
Yep, spring and summer is upon us. Nesting sites are being built.