baby robin on the ground in garden need advice

[Ginger2007]

Robin parents have been next building in my hedge and I notice a lot of frantic feeding on the ground this morning fortunately before I let my cat outside, as a baby robin has jumped out of the next onto the ground. I saw him wandering around with the two parents taking turns to keep him company and feed him or her. But now it is dark I am not sure what the parents will do, presumably they will sleep in the nest and the baby will be alone hiding among leaves or foliage on the ground. I am wondering whether I should put a shoe box out there in a corner for shelter with something so eat inside. I've given mealworms throught the day in the garden for the parents to feed but the water is high up and the seeds and nutbutter and worms. I've never been lucky enough to have robins rearing a family in my garden before successfully as my cat always put them off. She is older now and not outside as much. Any advice welcome. thanks

I saw a flow chart on this recently… Will find it..

www.rspca.org.uk/webContent/staticImages/Baby_bird_infographic500.jpg
hope the link works op, does it help? It’s from the rspca

Hi Mrs Dumble, many thanks for your help and this was a great resource. I concluded the fledgling was a mature nestling with feathers but unable to fly. somewhat devastatingly, it all went badly wrong. After seeing the parent robins working hard over three weeks building the nest in the hedge, then hearing the chirps of their young as I refilled the feeders, it was upsetting to see how cruel nature can be. I went outside in the morning at 6am after viewing from the window to see the tiny bird mobile on the ground in the garden and the robin parents swooping down with food from my feeders. I filled up the rehydrated mealworm bowl and refreshed the water then left them to it. I went back to bed for an hour. At 7am I got up for work and looked outside. I knew something was wrong as I could see the parents looking forlorn but not going to the ground. I opened the backdoor and stood surveying the garden and saw a couple of the sugar canes that I had made a protective fence with horizontal and then some damage to the hedge. I went to inspect and something had entered the garden in the previous hour and tried to raid the next which was now empty as I think they only had two small birds, one seemed to not have been on the ground at all and flown from the nest and the other one was a runner. My instincts told me it was a massive crow I'd noticed trying to feed from the feeder at 6am which I chased off. Had it been a cat from another garden which are not generally around in my area at that time there would have been more damage to the hedge I think and disruption to the sugar canes. So I was quite cross as I knew the robin parents would abandon the garden now following this attack though the nest wasn't damage as it was buried further to the left in the hedge and in tact and empty. I was a bit in a rush at this point to get on a call for work and retreated to the back door and as I entered in the right corner of the garden I saw a small dark bundle which I looked at wondering if it was some garden debris in the corner. I did think is it the fledgling but it didn't have legs it looked like a small clump of soil. I thought shall I get closer but I thought maybe it is the bird and it is scared and still. I want inside and an hour later after my call, I came outside and the bundle had gone so I was upset that it clearly had been the bird and now it had been removed clearly by the crow having returned. I have a feeling the bird had been chased and attacked and injured or died from shock. Now the parents have left the garden and it is quite sad how it all ended. I hope another bird will use the nest. My poor cat was locked inside for two days but now is happy to be roaming freely again. Thanks for your help and have a great bank holiday.

Oh that’s a sad situation, yes nature is very cruel at times but at least you tried everything to help that little robin family, us humans can get so attached to the wildlife in our gardens, I am particularly fond of our garden robins so I can understand you being upset.

Aww that is sad. Hopefully it was a crow and not a cat, maybe the crow had babies to feed as well. Nature can be cruel and it is upsetting