<< Back to Report What's Missing?

April 22, 2008 In the morning on April 22, Laura Erickson opened her curtains to discover something exciting: a female robin was carrying straws up to the eaves on Laura's front porch. Laura was thrilled! That afternoon when she got home from work, she found a large woven nest where the robin had been working. No rain had fallen for a few weeks, and the robin had constructed this part of her nest without any mud. This made Laura nervous. The winds blew hard during the night. Look at the photo, then read on: The next morning, Laura found the robin nest dangling off the ledge. How might the robin's building materials have caused this problem? When Laura came home that day, she saw that the robin had tried again. But again she didn't use mud. It was very windy that night. The next morning, Laura found the beautiful start of the nest on the ground. Rains finally came on April 25th, but the mud came too late, because the female robin hasn't tried anymore there. LAURA ERICKSON, CORNELL LAB OF ORNITHOLOGY, ITHACA, NEW YORK