Whomever answers please do a “Reply All”. Love to hear the answers to some interesting questions.
Thnx On Fri, Nov 21, 2025 at 1:36 PM Irene Liu <[email protected]> wrote: > Wondering if anyone can help me help out a student with some questions > about American Robins. A high-schooler in Harrisburg, PA photographed a > brood this summer in her backyard. One morning, she observed a parent feed > a seed to a older chick (it fledged that day, the last of the brood). A few > hours later, without the parents having returned, the chick picked up a > different, lighter-colored seed from the bottom of the nest and swallowed > it. After the chick fledged, the student took a photo of the empty nest. > The PA Department of Agriculture was able to identify the seed in the > parent's bill as from the Fabaceae/legume family and some light-colored > seeds at the bottom of the nest as a cherry species. > > After the first brood fledged, the parents built a new nest on top of the > old one. She noticed some large, smooth seeds embedded in the fresh lining. > She didn't request identification of the seeds or follow the second brood. > > She would like to know the "whys" of her observations. I looked around > published accounts and found seed consumption is not atypical for older > chicks. Any experts know whether it's (un)usual to feed legume seeds in > particular? Is it possible the chick ingested the cherry pit (most records > are of them regurgitating them when fed ripe cherries)? And as for the new > nest, is the most likely explanation that the female regurgitated seeds > while building? > > Thanks! She did some impressive and careful work, so I'd like to help her > out with whatever info people may have. > > Sincerely, > Irene > -- > *Cayugabirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME.htm> > Rules and Information > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES.htm> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> > ABA <https://www.aba.org/birding-news/> > *Please submit your observations to eBird > <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>!* > -- > -- (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") Cayugabirds-L List Info: NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsWELCOME_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsRULES_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave_DOT_htm ARCHIVES: 1) mail-archive_DOT_com/cayugabirds-l@cornell_DOT_edu/maillist_DOT_html 2) surfbirds_DOT_com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) aba_DOT_org/birding-news/ Please submit your observations to eBird: ebird_DOT_org/content/ebird/ --
