Nest building question

So I have this Robin that built a nest under my patio eaves. I thought, well that's OK. So then she built another one next to it than another, till she's currently at six of them with the potential for one more. So my question is: is there any particular reason she may be building this many next to each other, or is she just a strange bird, or possibly a home building contractor. I'm a little stumped on this one. Any info would be helpful. Thank.

Probably just an inexperienced bird. She'll figure it out.

Larry Johnson wrote in post #18644242
Probably just an inexperienced bird. She'll figure it out.

Thanks Larry. She did finish nest number seven today. She is good at building nests now.ߘ

This is purely speculation on my part. The males of some species will build the nest. The female will accept it or reject it.

In other species the female does the nest building and will abandon it if it doesn't suit her.

It's possible none of the first six were up to spec for some reason.

On the other hand this bird may be suffering from OCD.

pbigelow wrote in post #18644257
This is purely speculation on my part. The males of some species will build the nest. The female will accept it or reject it.

In other species the female does the nest building and will abandon it if it doesn't suit her.

It's possible none of the first six were up to spec for some reason.

On the other hand this bird may be suffering from OCD.

Thanks for the info Pb. This certainly could be the case. Will be interesting to see which nest, if any, she chooses to use.ߘ

KT29 wrote in post #18644279
Will be interesting to see which nest, if any, she chooses to use.

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So ..... how about giving us an update?


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Tom Reichner wrote in post #18652172
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So ..... how about giving us an update?

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Eleven nests now built. None occupied yet. Goofy bird.ߘ

Another update. Momma Robin has now occupied nest number 10, finally.ߘ

Her she is, the nest builder finally utilizing nest number 10

She's put in a massive effort.

Choderboy wrote in post #18655377
She's put in a massive effort.

She sure has Dave. She has been entertaining, at the least.ߘ

This is interesting, none of the nests look like Robin nests around my neck of the woods. Hope she is successful. Let us know the outcome. They just don't look very sturdy or well attached but she seems to want to be in a protected area.

So momma Robin has been sitting on the nest for awhile now. But I was getting confused. One time when I checked her she was sitting on the nest on the right. Than another time she would be sitting on the nest on the left. So today, when she had left to feed, I decided to check out the nests. Low and behold I found that she had two eggs in each nest. Apparently that was why I saw her on different nests at different times. Another unusual event from the robin. I hope it all works for her, but there is some doubt in my mind that all will end well.

Terry,

This is certainly odd, for sure!
I have never heard of this until you posted this and I am curious (as most others probably are) how this will turn out too. Very strange.

I searched online and found this, it may be of interest to you...
This snippet agrees with you on the majority of it, but where I made the type bold he doesn't agree, not to say that you are wrong, he may not know that it can be done, and is being done.

Please keep us posted, I am really wanting to see how this ends up.

Thank you!

Randy

"American Robins, for instance, sometimes start multiple nests before choosing one to complete and brood in.

Len Eiserer, the author of THE AMERICAN ROBIN: A BACKYARD INSTITUTION. He answers, "Building multiple nests simultaneously happens every now and again in robins. One started 26 different nests on roof rafters of a garage under construction; another built 8 on successive steps of a fire escape.

Support from underneath is the primary site selection factor for the female robin — it's more important than concealment, e.g. Since some human structures provide repetitive sites with terrific support, the female can get "seduced" into building multiple nests.

This is an example of "supernormal stimuli" — artificial stimuli that are even more effective than those provide by Mother Nature (tree limbs in this case). Animals have a hard time resisting supernormal stimuli. There are many other examples. Your robin will probably settle on one site and just lay eggs in that nest, or else just incubate eggs in that nest after laying, say, one egg in one nest and two in the other. She almost definitely will NOT lay two complete sets of eggs and try to incubate both of them."

Here's the link...
https://www.reddit.com …ple_nests_whats​_going_on/

Here's my Google Search...
https://www.google.com​/search?safe=off&sourc​e=hp&ei=27NMW5OWCtDmsA​XaqImYDw&q=do+birds+ma​ke+more+than+one+nest&​oq=bird+making+more+th​an+one&gs_l=psy-ab.1.0.0i22i30k1.1471.​5284.0.7753.26.25.0.0.​0.0.226.2699.11j12j1.2​4.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..2.22.2472.0..0j35i​39k1j0i131k1j0i131i20i​264k1j0i20i264k1j0i10k​1j0i22i10i30k1.0.oWmNg​SGdq1w

Thanks for this info Randy. This robin certainly fits the supernormal stimuli. I will definitely keep track of the nesting activities. Thanks again for the info.ߘ