Blue Eggs in the Pears. OK to Leave?

Mama bird has built a nest in my pear tree.

Below are photos of the eggs (one hatched) and of mama bird.

Can anyone i.d. the bird and let me know if this bird is ok in the orchard.

Mike

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It’s a robin- good to have, even if they eat a little fruit. The eggs are laid over a period of days and will hatch one at a time over a period of days.

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Murder on blueberries, but OK on pears. Better a robin than brown thrashers. The best one to have is a mawking bird because they are so territorial they will chase other birds out of the orchard.

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They eat a LOT of fruit

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They will fledge in prolly 3 weeks, then ground feed. At least mine do. I plant lots of free stuff and leave it unguarded and they dont try so hard for my stuff

Its actually illegal to move the nest, since its a native bird and this protected. And they love grubs, the ugly damn things

I hate to be the pooper of an otherwise nice post. I once had a robbin nest on a pear limb and I though it was a nice addition. As mother started feeding and discarding items the limb for about 3 feet was a big mess. I still dont regret leaving it but not again.

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Well, if you have to evict them try to do it early enough in the season that they can re-establish in better circumstances!

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That is what I did the next year. As soon as they put a few twigs on the limb I got rid of them. They eventually built on a pine tree limb. I usually don’t mess with a nest if they have started laying eggs or if they have hatched.

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Well, the second one hatched later today.

My blueberries are not at risk as they area good way away and in an enclosure.

Mike

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Same thing in my largely unmanaged kieffer pear. This photo is from a few weeks ago so I assume they already hatched.

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Robins are major problems in strawberry patches. My Grandma used to tell me to shoot them when I was a kid. That was in WI, where Robins are the state bird :zipper_mouth_face:

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I have my blues buttoned up too

I felt like breaking out the shotgun and thinning them a bit. Went out this morning and 3 of them had found a way to get under the net, but were too stupid to find a way out. I “gently” helped them to their freedom! Luckily for them I have so many strawberries this year I didnt resort to firing squad.

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Robins are a federally protected bird but you can shoot them if you get a permit. We shot the limit on our permit when they were devastating the blueberries about 20 years ago. They were having a feeding frenzy and dive bombing the customers picking the blueberries. Reminded me a little bit of the movie “The Birds.” Unfortunately, shooting them made very little difference. The next year we had a 2 acre net. We noticed they arrive late in the season in my area so we now grow only early varieties of Blueberries that ripen before most of the birds arrive. The Aiir Crow and the Bird Squawker also help but they have to be set up early before huge numbers of birds arrive.

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The only bird that is good anywhere near fruit is a predator. The question I would ask is how much do you like eating your fruit.

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We have nest boxes in our orchard (apples, pears, plums, persimmons, figs, and, cherries) that are used annually by Western Bluebirds and Violet Green swallows. Surrounding the orchard we have habitat that supports nesting of Western Scrub-Jay, California Quail, Pacific Slope Flycatcher, Black Phoebe, Barn Swallow, Red-Tail Hawk, American Robins and others. This habitat also supports lots of insects several of which pollinate the fruit trees.

Do the birds eat fruit? Some of them, of course, but we harvest far more fruit that we can use. They are also a delight to watch.

In the last 50 years, birds in California have declined in numbers by more than 80%. Insects have experienced similar declines throughout the World. Without these two animals there will be little or no fruit on the trees unless we are prepared to do it manually, with a brush, one blossom at a time.

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Jag44314
Yes
I agree, I encourage as many birds here as I can.
Nest boxes, habitat, etc.
Most feed their young on insects, and go the shortest distance to find them.
So I encourage them in the orchard.
The fruit eaters , I could not stop if I wanted to.

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Sounds great Jag :call_me_hand:t2:. I strive for the same sort of ecosystem.
We get endless laughs from squirrel distractions. 5 lb bag of unsalted pnuts hidden one at a time in leaves and tree crotches. Fruit is invisible as they scurry like loons lookin for those pnuts - think Benny Hill music

Also flip top feeders with corn kernels. Takes them forever to collect a few at a time