Wonderful story! I would recommend the IKEA EKORRE collection as they are cheaper than buying the wood if you dont have enough left over!! Oh and if you live near IKEA. I am bribing and pleading with the Granny to go to IKEA for her grandbabies!

7 minutes! Incredible

Obviously I'm ignorant, but why was it such a crucial matter that it be rushed?

I have to admit when I saw the title...Evicted...I got worried, lol.

Very cool design!

Thanks for the birdhouse idea - something to do with the girls today.

Also a comment on the shingles. When I built the treehouse for my girls (not one from you but a few years ago) I used construction adhesive for the shingles. I did the same thing for the duck house and everything has held up fine through snow, etc. Just another option.

That is so sweet of you!

@ Janelle - as is the case with many species, the mother bird (or other animals) would reject the babies and abbandon the nest if it's been messed around with (It has something to do with the scent). So it was crucial for Ana to act as fast as possible to minimize the risk of mother bird abbandoning the nest. It seems like she did it on time!

I believe the moving of the nest was a bad thing to do. I would have waited it out until the birds were old enough to fly away.

Did the mother bird ever come to the nest??? I pray that she did!

Joanna, Unless I read the story wrong the mama bird came back and they are all doing fine. I do agree that it is best to leave them if possible, but sometimes it is not. I would love to build this play house so much. It would be really nice to see everyone's bird and animal houses that they build. hint hint.

We were actually painting with a sprayer and enclosing the rafters, so the nest had to be moved. We are so happy to see the mother feeding her babies and can't wait to see first flights. Robins are my favorite birds!

hey don't want to sound like a booger because I love your site nad love taht you wanted to save the birds but it is against the law to touch or move a robins nest. They are protected. Found this out first hand because we had a momma bird build a nest in the rafters of our patio and it was a mess so I called to see what we could do and they told me it was against the law to touch the nest. Love your web site but I just thought I would share this with you.

Hey I've done wild life rescue and my daughter is avian specialist. We just finished feeding and getting a baby Grackle with heat stroke up and well again. A little water, a little feeding with baby bird formula a few hours of AC and the parents we VERY happy to have their baby returned. It is a misnomer or old wives tell about scent. Birds actually don't have a very good sense of smell. Most birds will try and find lost babies and try to keep an eye on them. The best thing you can do is put a lost baby back in the nest even if you have touched it. If the parents reject it there is usually a genetic problem and has NOTHING to do with your scent on the bird; Hence my Grackle friends family opening welcoming back their young fledgling after about 8 hours of R&R. If you can't find the nest but you know were the parents are you can fashion one by a plastic butter tub. Just punch a few holes in the bottom. As for moving a nest, I think that might be a state by state thing. Here in Michigan your not suppose to mess with a nest.
Oh and if you find a baby bird don't mess with it, unless it is in immediate danger ie.. cat or car,but keep an eye on it. Chances are the parents are someplace nearby. Also don't try feeding babies call a wildlife rescue. Feeding young baby birds can be tricky. Great job Ana I showed my daughter your nest box and she thought it to be excellent and probably even better than there original.

Thanks all, and to the Bell Family, you are very right. We had been watching the robins for a couple of weeks (it's their third year in the rafter) and trying to work around them. Just on that particular day, the mother wouldn't have anything to do with the babies, for an entire day. The babies were quite hungry and loud. We even quit working in the area. So we tried to move the nest, and it worked, all is fine, and we see the momma going in and out with bugs in her mouth all day. Wow, those mother birds work hard! And hopefully with the rafters boxed in (and it's getting spray painted and sealed, ick) the robins will nest in the box next year.

that is so sweet!!

You may want to edit your quick bird house plans to include some kind of low "fence" around the platform. Blue Jays, Stellar Jays and Crows commonly come and roll eggs or babies out of the nest. I'm not sure why, but our robin's nest had it happen four years in a row. I started piling grass clippings below the nest and saved a few dropped eggs.

I am a bird biologist and can testify to the fact that it is very difficult to get a mother bird to abandon her nest once the chicks have hatched (nests with only eggs in them are another story). I have handled many chicks of a variety of species from bushtits to scarlet macaws and none have ever abandoned their babies. So Ana did exactly the right thing--move the nest to a nearby location where the parents can easily find it and predators cannot get to it. Same goes if you find a nest on the ground--just put it up in a safe location nearby and the parents will continue to care for the chicks.

I blogged about using this story to build the same birdhouse today!
www.kaydani20.blogspot.com

The mama bird would not come near enough to feed her babies when people were around. She might have abandoned them and the babies would starve if seperated for too long. Or she might have dive-bombed people in an attempt to save her babies.