A Robin had built a nest on my bathroom window ledge.
I had watched for the last two seasons these lovely little Robins grow and fly away.
I was privileged enough to see the moment they actually flew off into the tall trees in our yard where the mother was not far behind.
Last year the nest on the window ledge was again holding two tiny birds.
The window ledge was under my clothesline and when I thought it was safe I tried to hang some clothes on the line.
I must have scared the baby Robin because out of nowhere the mother started diving towards me screeching a sound that was both upsetting and terrifying.
I knew right then I was in trouble.
She was obviously distraught that I had scared the baby out of the nest when it wasn't ready to fly.
I was beside myself feeling terrible. I cried.
I didn't mean to upset her and cause the young to leave the nest.
I had watched these little guys for weeks and was loving them.
Anyway, the mother and the baby were in a nearby tree for a long time.
I think she forgave me because this year they are back again.
Two new babies. But this time not on the window ledge but in a nearby shrub.
I still check on them occasionally. But now I keep my distance.
Love those birds, and hope they always stay close.
What a great story. I am so glad they came back to be with you. I'm sure she just wanted to let you know the rules. How sweet is that. Good Luck to all of you.
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Mom Robin on the Attack by: Cindy
Susan... I felt your compassion with these birds. What a beautiful yet misunderstood incident. Poor YOU!
That's how I feel about the Roadrunners that have staked my home out for their territory.
They are the friendliest birds, and I have been watching mom and dad who have actually nested here for the first time.
I have been here 14 years and never have I seen a nest of theirs before. I want to take pictures of the babies so badly.
They should be hatching right now, but I will NOT disturb them on the nest at all.
I'll have to wait till they are getting food for them. Not all birds are aggressive and will attack an intruder.
Mockingbirds will and so will Blue Jays and a few others.
Guess now we know that Robins are aggressive too!
I'm glad they've come back and are nesting again. And glad the baby made it to safety with the mother!
Thanks for your story.
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Robin attacks? by: Anonymous
I have always loved robins... until now. A new pair decided to nest on a ledge near my backdoor.
I thought how great it will be to watch them grow! NOT. One of the parents is EXTREMELY aggressive!
My patio is a good 15 feet away from the nest, but one of the adults keeps dive bombing my head.
It swoops down from any nearby tree and has gotten very close, close enough to feel the wind from it's wings.
It will do this repeatedly, even at my dog. I have to wear a large brimmed hat in the yard.
I've never seen such an aggressive bird, but most unexpected from a robin.
I will do what I can to avoid them, but next year... they will not be welcomed back.
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Was chased down and yelled at by: Anonymous
I just had this happen today. I scared the last two baby Robins from the nest. I didn't mean too.
The mom came and immediately began showing screeching and went away w/ 1 baby; but I realized a few minutes later 1 was by the gutter on the side of the garage, it flew to a nearby tree and I watched it for about an hour.
The male Robin came back to the nest to find it empty w/mouth full of worms. I went to see if the one in the tree was still there or hurt.
I got too close and it flew away again and both the male and female parents chased me down!Screeching and darting at me!!! As I deserved...
I feel terrible I disrupted their balance.... I know this was the youngest of the hatchlings just because it was the smallest and the mom did lay her last egg a couple days after the others.
I hope my disruption doesn't ruin the last baby's chance of surviving.
It did have all of it's feathers already and could fly, colors already in and the two other siblings fledged the nest yesterday.
I can't believe what amazing parents Robins are.
It's weird seeing the empty nest I think I'll remove it as it is right next to our main entrance and grill, which we haven't been able to use for a month now.
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My heartbreaking story by: C. Beach
The happy tales I read here failed to play out for me and the young Robin mother that built her nest in our front yard bush... only four feet above the ground.
I hope my photos will help to open the season on crows to a full twelve months!
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Mother Red Breast Tried to Attack by: Anonymous
I have a nest in my backyard in a bush by my trash. Every time I go to put trash out, two birds start flying around my head.
I am afraid to even go into the yard.
I hope they leave soon. After they leave the bush will come down. Terrified of Robin Red Breast.
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Vicious robins by: Anonymous
We have a robin's nest under our deck & the mama or daddy bird is so vicious we can't even go in our backyard.
It has attacked my husband, dog & swooped down on me screeching. We are no where near its nest. This is getting crazy I'm afraid to go in my own backyard!
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Robin Attack by: Gene
The Robins will not harm you, it's mostly an annoyance. At the most, They'll brush you. Some guard a larger territory than just the nest site.
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Robin nesting on my window sill by: Lena
Glad I found this site, as I too was researching whether Robins were aggressive.
From what I've read I'm not the only one experiencing aggression from these birds.
During the last weeks in April I noticed an empty nest on my window sill in my bedroom.
A few days later I discovered an egg in it.
Each day for four days there was a new egg in the nest. I also thought it will be wonderful to follow their birth and flight from the nest.
It was particularly important to me because a few years ago a nest was built in my front door wreath.
Not realizing it was in there I took the wreath down when a nest with a bunch of eggs fell to the ground breaking all of the eggs.
That year it was also on Mother's Day weekend.I felt horrible for weeks.
That mother worked so hard to build a nest to nurture her young and I come along and destroy it. :(
I don't dare go near the new nest when I see that the mom or dad are near it but will sneak over to the window when they are away.
The eggs hatched this past Sunday, Mothers Day of all days!
I was so excited to watch what was about to take place.
Two days in a row when the mother would step away I would try to sneak a peak at the newborn babies.
The minute I looked in the mother would swoop back on the ledge standing there staring at me through the window with a look like "you go near my babies and there will be a price to pay."
I would like to sneak peaks now and then but the parents are having none of that.
I would never want to scare the baby's out of the nest early. The drop from the window would be certain death.
I wish the parents would be a little friendlier. After all, I've let them live on my ledge without disturbance.
I wish they knew I wasn't there to cause harm.
I will certainly miss them when they are gone in a few more weeks.
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Robins Aggressive by: Gene
I've found that Robins can be very tolerant during incubation, but as soon as the young hatch, look out! Still fun.
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Just a beautiful experience ! by: Dimitra karagiannis
So the blue eggs hatched the baby birds started growing and probably in a couple of days they would fly away ....
And I would be loosing my new friends because I was able to earn the mothers trust.
I can pet the baby birds anytime and also feed them right in front of their mother.
And not only that, their mother takes the food from my hands and gives it to baby birds and feeds them ... contrary to the father Robin.
It takes time and to be passionate, I spent a lot of time during the day with them. I love them and care for them.
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Nasty Surprise by: Alison
I live in a condo building and a couple robins nested and laid eggs on a beam above the back door of one of my neighbors.
We've all been close enough to the nest to get a look at the babies, but this morning, when I was getting back from walking my dog, the two parents kept charging at us, one from the ground, the other from above.
They swooped low over my head until I decided to make a run for it.
One of the birds followed me all the way to my back steps. Now I'm afraid to go out my back door.
How much longer do I have to put up with this?
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bird attack by: Gene
Sounds like the young have fledged and you got too close. A couple of days is all it takes.
If the young are still in the nest you have a week. Doesn't really matter, they will not hurt you. Just freak you out a bit.
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Exciting events with robins and squirrels by: Lee from Troy, NY
We have been seeing robins very aggressive toward squirrels when they approach the remnants of our bird feeder as we sit on our deck each evening.
We have not seen this behavior before. I suspected there was a nest nearby and today I discovered a nest in our Bridal veil hedges.
I was so happy to see little beaks appearing and quickly left my post.
Shortly after I was reading on our deck and one of the robins we have been accustomed to seeing harass the squirrels and near that Bush came zooming through the gazebo/ deck where I was sitting.
I was amazed. He/She had never done that before.
This was why I found your blog... I enjoyed hearing other stories of protective robins and quite admire them as parents.
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Protecting empty nest? by: Anonymous
I watched the babies leave the nest today. I wanted to get rid of the nest that is in a hanging flower pot on my porch.
I took it down and one of the parents came at me from nowhere.
Why are they protecting an empty nest? Everything I have read says that they do not come back after they leave.
I need my porch back and am now afraid to go out there. Is there a reason the protect an empty nest?
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I felt like I was in a Hitchcock movie by: Anonymous
I'm glad to hear that I am not the only one being attacked by these amazing birds. For the second year in a row the robins have built a nest in top foliage of my garden arch.
If I'm cautious I can tip-toe up close and peer at the mother (or father) sitting calmly in the nest.
However, if they are out of the nest and I walk through the archway - I have no choice if I want to access my back garden - I am physically attacked by the birds.
At first they would dive bomb me without contact. I could feel the rush of the air as they swooped low over me.
Today I was actually physically struck on the top of my head, twice within half a minute.
Then the robin would sit on a tree branch or the edge of the roof and screech at me like a banshee.
It scared the life out of me, but I'm impressed by the way the birds protect their young. Nature is wonderful.
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Attack of the Crazy momma bird by: Anonymous
We've had had a beautiful dove family nest on our old wind up clothes line for 10 years.
This year, the Robin's family took them out for the nest.
2 days ago my daughter went to hang clothes on our regular clothes line, 10ft from the nest.
The momma bird swooped at her head squalling and screaming at her. Actually landed on her head. She dropped the clothes and screamed.
My son had to run out waving a broom with a hard hat on to get it away.
Today she went out with the hard hat on, prepared and got 2 pcs hung before it attacked again, pecking at her head! Its vicious.
My son and I went out to help and it dive bombed all of us.
I honestly was between laughing hysterical and crying in fear...birds!!!!
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Aggro Robin by: Anonymous
The Robin family built a nest near my Manhattan balcony feeder and attacks all the birds that come to feed!
The jays, woodpeckers have stopped coming. The grey catbird still sneaks in careful not to get seen.
The robins tolerate smaller birds, sparrows and finches. I wonder if it's bc some of the larger birds eat eggs?
Friendly to me though as it likes the blueberries and suet I leave out.
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Robin attack by: Anonymous
I was casually walking in the parking lot no where near a nest. All of a sudden I hear something screech past my ear.
I turned around to see nothing. All of a sudden I see the Robin charging at me.
I ducked because if I didn't it would have for sure hit me.
It swoops back up turns around and charges at me again, and keeps repeating this as I run for my life LOL. Horrible experience.
What's even scarier is I have no idea what I did now I walk with an umbrella over my head.
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Why Robins Attack by: Gene
There are two main reasons a Robin will swoop down at you is: There is a nest nearby or a recently fledged bird is in the area.
You don't need to be near a tree, the young will travel quite a distance from the nest and land on the ground.
My guess, there was fledglings around.
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Thanks, Susan (Anc Ont) .... by: A. Lyn
Susan, I was looking for exactly what you wrote about and the many helpful replies.
I've been joyfully watching a robin's nest - within 3 feet of my backdoor. It's been fascinating until I got attacked this morning. Yikes!
Screeching and dive-bombing ... scary! Yes, I found out that's because the baby birds are fledging.
There were 3 babies yesterday, flapping their wings on the edge of the nest. This morning there is just one.
Both mom and dad are flying around, stopping at the nest. Hope I catch sight of the last baby taking off. I missed the first two.
So, thanks again, Susan.
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Merry Oaks by: Anonymous
1st time porch light Robin's nest already hatched, heads of little ones visible.
Mom and Dad Robin just today charging at me even from a block away.
Wearing and keeping my ball cap on to protecting me, haven't been injured, glad they're able to be here.
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robin on attack by: carole
I too have a family of robins on the beam under my patio roof.
I am afraid to go out there because they dive after me and keep chirping too.
They have 3 babies and I had better stay away from them.
My patio is not my own now for another 2 weeks.
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Philadelphia Robin gang by: John
So today I get home from work sit with my son, play with some action figures with him, pet my dog, then eventually walk her.
So today as I'm walking jewels (Juliana) we see out of no where a baby bird just standing there.
Luckily jewels had on her muzzle or this baby bird would of been a Robin mc-nugget for my pit bull.
Anyway, while I'm pulling my dog back I hear a scratch and see 2 different objects whizz by my head.
I stop for a second and what do I see, 2 robins doing what looked like a bomber attack coming for me.
Naturally we ran but looking out the window they were going to attack.
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Robin's are the greatest by: Donald
I love Robins, they are and always will be my favorite bird.
I hate winter and when it's ending the sight of a robin gives me a good feeling that Spring is on it's way.
The beauty of the flowers, green grass and leaves on the the trees will replace the ugliness of winter.
