It's weird. Last spring the robin drug a bunch of stuff like excelsior
to build a nest on top of the exterior light by my front door. Then she
changed her mind (always a woman's prerogative), picked it all up,
and built a nest across the street in a neighbors window sill. Did OK
there, as far as I know.

This year she's back, and she's built it, and she's nesting in it. She
doesn't even have enough room to turn around unless she cocks her
tail straight up vertically.

I'm not gonna bother her, and I doubt the mailman will interfere, but
there have to be other possibilities. I live in a densely populated
big city in the midwest US.

Any suggestions? Should I leave her be? Try to protect her (how?)?
Etc, etc.

Thx,
P

"Law Without Equity Is No Law At All. It Is A Form Of Jungle Rule."

On 3/27/11 5:36 PM, Puddin' Man wrote:

It's weird. Last spring the robin drug a bunch of stuff like excelsior
to build a nest on top of the exterior light by my front door. Then she
changed her mind (always a woman's prerogative), picked it all up,
and built a nest across the street in a neighbors window sill. Did OK
there, as far as I know.

This year she's back, and she's built it, and she's nesting in it. She
doesn't even have enough room to turn around unless she cocks her
tail straight up vertically.

I'm not gonna bother her, and I doubt the mailman will interfere, but
there have to be other possibilities. I live in a densely populated
big city in the midwest US.

Any suggestions? Should I leave her be? Try to protect her (how?)?
Etc, etc.


Don't turn on the light.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

"David E. Ross" wrote:
On 3/27/11 5:36 PM, Puddin' Man wrote:

It's weird. Last spring the robin drug a bunch of stuff like excelsior
to build a nest on top of the exterior light by my front door. Then she
changed her mind (always a woman's prerogative), picked it all up,
and built a nest across the street in a neighbors window sill. Did OK
there, as far as I know.

This year she's back, and she's built it, and she's nesting in it. She
doesn't even have enough room to turn around unless she cocks her
tail straight up vertically.

I'm not gonna bother her, and I doubt the mailman will interfere, but
there have to be other possibilities. I live in a densely populated
big city in the midwest US.

Any suggestions? Should I leave her be? Try to protect her (how?)?
Etc, etc.


Don't turn on the light.

Birds try the same thing here on my front door light under the covered
porch. I knock the nesting material off as they build the nest each day as
i go out. Bird poop will corrode your light if made of metal. The birds and
me scare each other as i leave the house and the birds fly away next to my
face. I tend to keep three ten inch hanging pots of fuchsias under the
covered porch. Each year at least one of the pots has a birds nest in the
middle of it. I live in the country and there are lots of places for birds
to nest.

I like the fuchsias because they attract humming birds. Each morning when I
raise the living room shade there is a good chance I will see one flying
from flower to flower from my front window.

Instead of a hanging pot, one could put a bird house in its place of the
hanging pot.

--
Enjoy Life... Nad R (Garden in zone 5a Michigan)

In article ,
Nad R wrote:

"David E. Ross" wrote:
On 3/27/11 5:36 PM, Puddin' Man wrote:

It's weird. Last spring the robin drug a bunch of stuff like excelsior
to build a nest on top of the exterior light by my front door. Then she
changed her mind (always a woman's prerogative), picked it all up,
and built a nest across the street in a neighbors window sill. Did OK
there, as far as I know.

This year she's back, and she's built it, and she's nesting in it. She
doesn't even have enough room to turn around unless she cocks her
tail straight up vertically.

I'm not gonna bother her, and I doubt the mailman will interfere, but
there have to be other possibilities. I live in a densely populated
big city in the midwest US.

Any suggestions? Should I leave her be? Try to protect her (how?)?
Etc, etc.


Don't turn on the light.

Birds try the same thing here on my front door light under the covered
porch. I knock the nesting material off as they build the nest each day as
i go out. Bird poop will corrode your light if made of metal. The birds and
me scare each other as i leave the house and the birds fly away next to my
face. I tend to keep three ten inch hanging pots of fuchsias under the
covered porch. Each year at least one of the pots has a birds nest in the
middle of it. I live in the country and there are lots of places for birds
to nest.

I like the fuchsias because they attract humming birds. Each morning when I
raise the living room shade there is a good chance I will see one flying
from flower to flower from my front window.

Instead of a hanging pot, one could put a bird house in its place of the
hanging pot.

The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability by Lierre Keith
http://www.amazon.com/Vegetarian-Myt...ability/dp/160
4860804/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1281718588&sr=1-1
(Available at better libraries near you)

"Bone meal from land animals is a traditional source, and most
farms (up to 1940) kept a flock of pigeons as their source [of
phosphate]."
--
---------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYIC0eZYEtI
http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2011/3/7/michael_moore
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZkDikRLQrw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyE5wjc4XOw

On 3/27/2011 9:36 PM, Puddin' Man wrote:

It's weird. Last spring the robin drug a bunch of stuff like excelsior
to build a nest on top of the exterior light by my front door. Then she
changed her mind (always a woman's prerogative), picked it all up,
and built a nest across the street in a neighbors window sill. Did OK
there, as far as I know.

This year she's back, and she's built it, and she's nesting in it. She
doesn't even have enough room to turn around unless she cocks her
tail straight up vertically.

I'm not gonna bother her, and I doubt the mailman will interfere, but
there have to be other possibilities. I live in a densely populated
big city in the midwest US.

Any suggestions? Should I leave her be? Try to protect her (how?)?
Etc, etc.

Thx,
P

"Law Without Equity Is No Law At All. It Is A Form Of Jungle Rule."


I discourage such nesting and destroy them when found. Trees and shrubs
are for the birds but house is mine.

On 3/27/2011 9:36 PM, Puddin' Man wrote:

It's weird. Last spring the robin drug a bunch of stuff like excelsior
to build a nest on top of the exterior light by my front door. Then she
changed her mind (always a woman's prerogative), picked it all up,
and built a nest across the street in a neighbors window sill. Did OK
there, as far as I know.

This year she's back, and she's built it, and she's nesting in it. She
doesn't even have enough room to turn around unless she cocks her
tail straight up vertically.

I'm not gonna bother her, and I doubt the mailman will interfere, but
there have to be other possibilities. I live in a densely populated
big city in the midwest US.

Any suggestions? Should I leave her be? Try to protect her (how?)?
Etc, etc.

Thx,
P

"Law Without Equity Is No Law At All. It Is A Form Of Jungle Rule."


The North American Robin is what is known as a 'shelf nester' and, as
you've seen they really seem to love porch lights. Although the location
seems clumsy to you the parents will probably do just fine if they aren't
bothered too much. The location is probably completely immune to external
attacks there.

When I was a child the same pair of robins built nests on our back door
porchlight and successfully raised several broods except for one year when
one hatchling fell from the nest and onto the porch. My mother and I hand
raised it and the next spring the nestling showed up perched on the porch
railing and deigned to be hand fed again. The next year an older robin
showed up the same way and would let us get within a couple of feet but not
close enough for feeding. I'd say, let the birds be and if they made a good
choice they will do fine and you might just get some entertainment and a
friend in the bargain.

On Mon, 28 Mar 2011 10:03:39 -0400, John McGaw wrote:

The North American Robin is what is known as a 'shelf nester' and, as
you've seen they really seem to love porch lights. Although the location
seems clumsy to you the parents will probably do just fine if they aren't
bothered too much. The location is probably completely immune to external
attacks there.

House is brick. Squirrels can get up there if they want. No cats.

The top of the porch light is metal and kinda pointed. Glass globe
hangs down from it. I'm sure she simply failed to get the nest
properly weaved last year. But she's got it now.

When I was a child the same pair of robins built nests on our back door
porchlight and successfully raised several broods except for one year when
one hatchling fell from the nest and onto the porch. My mother and I hand
raised it and the next spring the nestling showed up perched on the porch
railing and deigned to be hand fed again. The next year an older robin
showed up the same way and would let us get within a couple of feet but not
close enough for feeding. I'd say, let the birds be and if they made a good
choice they will do fine and you might just get some entertainment and a
friend in the bargain.

Sounds good to me. She seems to be doing OK.

Thanks for a very nice little story.

Best,
P

"Law Without Equity Is No Law At All. It Is A Form Of Jungle Rule."