Date: 11/21/25 10:36 am From: Irene Liu <il275...> Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Question about seed consumption in American Robins
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
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