Date: 11/21/25 11:19 am From: Jack Morse <jack.morse131...> Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Question about seed consumption in American Robins
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 <il275...> 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
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