The Robin Expert

click on the nest to enlarge

Took this pic this afternoon.  These nestlings are getting huge - looks like they're about to fledge.

Laura Erickson - The Robin Expert - has this to say:

After a brood of young robins fledge (leave the nest), the mother starts building a new nest and laying new eggs even as she still spends most of the time each day attending to those fledglings. The father spends all day with the fledglings and leads them to a roost at nighttime, where they join with other fathers and fledglings. 

When the mother finishes laying a new clutch (which takes usually four to six days after her new nest is built), she starts incubating and leaves the fledglings to their father’s care. When the new eggs hatch, the father leaves the fledglings on their own and returns to feeding the new nestlings. Those fledglings hang out with the other fledglings from their nighttime roost, finding fruit trees and worms and being sociable, and every night the fathers join them in the roost. 

As the last broods are done being raised, the mothers join these flocks. So by the summer’s end, robin flocks contain birds of all ages that start to wander, looking for new feeding areas that provide some worms and fruit. The young birds hang out with these restless flocks, moving from place to place in search of food, mostly headed in a southerly direction. They don’t have to know where to go on their own because of their need to associate with other robins.

You can learn more from Laura at her American Robin website here.