Robin Feeds Wren Chicks!

[Popsiclepop]

A couple of years ago I saw a robin feeding wren babies in my garden. The mother wren was perfectly happy about it as she had many babies to feed! The robin stayed with the family for a few days and the whole experience was wonderful. I was wondering if anybody else had seen something similar with other birds?

[animartco]

Lovely to have some real evidence of this behaviour. I don't suppose you filmed it? In the old days they used to think the wren was the robin's wife, because of the close association between the two species. I have seen both robins and wrens feeding the same mobile young.

[Popsiclepop]

Originally Posted by animartco

Lovely to have some real evidence of this behaviour. I don't suppose you filmed it? In the old days they used to think the wren was the robin's wife, because of the close association between the two species. I have seen both robins and wrens feeding the same mobile young.

Unfortunately I didn't film it but it is lovely to know about them being thought of as partners, I'd never heard of that before! Do you know any more about the association between the two, has there been research carried out? Thanks Pop

[heliart]

This is not unheard on.
The parenting instinct in a robin can be so strong that anything with a gape could be fed.

Never seen it myself, would love to. I really love robins, and currently have a nesting pair in the garden.

[Popsiclepop]

Originally Posted by heliart

This is not unheard on.
The parenting instinct in a robin can be so strong that anything with a gape could be fed.

Never seen it myself, would love to. I really love robins, and currently have a nesting pair in the garden.

Thanks for the response, I had thought it was the parental instinct, and so was a little sad for the robin who may not have had any chicks of her own to feed that year , though maybe her brood had already fledged, who knows
Lovely to hear you have a nesting pair in your garden, have they chosen to nest somewhere unusual? You often hear about them nesting in strange places, my auntie has robins nesting in a bike helmet in her shed at the moment!