You know it’s springtime when you see little red robins bobbing around in your backyard. American Robin is a migratory bird commonly found in the North American Continent. It is one of the first bird species that lay eggs. A female robin can have two to three of 3-4 eggs in every season. The eggs usually hatch after 12 to 14 days of being laid. So if you have a baby robin bird on your lawn, and you are wondering what do baby robins eat, then you have come to the right place.
Let’s Find Out.
What Do Newborn Robins Eat?
Baby robins can eat a lot of stuff, and the good thing is that both mommy and daddy robins share the feeding duties.
Baby robins are altricial, and they are completely dependent on their parents for everything. Fortunately, they grow up quickly and are ready to leave the nest within 14 days.
In the meantime, when the baby robin bird is still nestling, it can be a little demanding. In the first four days, the parents will feed partially digested food directly into the baby robin bird’s mouth. As robins are Omnivorous, their diet usually involves grubs, earthworms, fruits, insects, berries, and mealworms. By day five, they graduate to consume solid foods like chopped-up earthworm pieces.
Read more- Available Methods to Reduce Reproduction in Pigeons
How Often Are Baby Robins Fed?
Baby robins eat upto 100 times a day, as their parents have to feed them every 10 minutes. The robin parents’ lives for those first few weeks are totally consumed with feeding the baby. Baby robin birds do not open their eyes when they are born and also hatch featherless. It takes about 5-6 days for them to open their eyes.
What Baby Robins Eat Post First Week
Baby robin birds still need at least one more week to be ready to leave their nests, so they are completely dependent on their parents for food. When baby robin bird starts gulping solid foods, the parents will start bringing solid food like crickets, grasshoppers, and beetles along with seeds and berries.
Knowing that babies need to eat a lot of food, robins usually nest in areas where there is plenty of food available. They do not usually eat directly from bird feeders but can be seen hopping on wet lawns pulling earthworms after rainstorms.
Robin birds also rely on heavy eyesight to search for worms and other types of food sources because earthworms get alerted when they hear the robins hopping.
What Baby Robins Eat After Two Weeks
Like any good parents, robins know when their babies will be ready for fledglings and leave the nest. They adjust their feeding routine and get ready for the next day. After two weeks, the father and mother robin stops dropping food into the baby robin bird’s mouth and gets them ready to leave the nest.
Baby birds post two weeks, become fledglings, and their first set of feathers start growing. By this time, they grow the same size as their parents. This is when the baby robin birds start growing wing muscles and try to make awkward attempts to fly.
For the next few days, the bird will try to keep shadowing the young ones and help with the feedings. This will only last for a few more days, and the fledglings will be ready to leave their nest soon.
How To Feed Baby Robin Bird Food?
If you find yourself in a situation where you have to take care of a baby robin bird who lost its parents or fell from its nest, then knowing the below-mentioned things will help you feed the baby robin.
Use Syringe To Feed Baby Robin
Using a syringe or an eyedropper, you can try feeding the baby robin. You should use baby bird formula mix for this method. If you cannot find that, you can also use wheat cereal or baby formula or soak dry dog food in extreme cases.
Remember that the food is properly mushed when you feed the baby robins. In a single time, about one to two full droppers will fill baby robins certainly, but they grow they will require more fillings. Being a robin bird parent is a very demanding job.
When they automatically open their mouth, you will know that they have food. Never feed the robin when they are not asking for it. Observe the behavior of birds carefully before you try baby robin to eat more food.
Feed Using Hands
You can also use your hands to feed the bird. Chicken feed or moistened duck with even texture will make good food for baby robins. Make sure to wash your hands carefully before you make the baby robins eat.
Take a tiny pinch of food in your hands and stick the tip out and touch the corner of the bird’s mouth. Baby robins will open their mouth automatically, and you will know when to stop as they start closing their mouth like droppers that are inserted into the mouth anyway.
Let the Baby Robin Feed on Its Own
If the bird has grown enough, you are lucky. They can easily handle the food on their own. All you have to do is just place the food near them. Offering small berries or grubs will work fine. On average baby, robins need to eat every 10 minutes in their growing age.
Things To Keep In Mind:
- The food should always be at room temperature.
- Make sure the food is fresh with no bacteria or fungus overgrowth.
- The baby robin bird food should be fine in texture. It should be smooth enough to pass through the delicate throats of baby robins.
Final Words:
We hope you must have learned a lot of new things about what baby robins eat and how to feed them on your own. If you find this article helpful, do not forget to leave comments down below.
