My Robin is nesting!

Since My Cape Robin-chat (Cossypha caffra) moved into my garden a couple of years ago, I've watched him and his wife rear many a brood, but never managed to get a shot of the nest and eggs. Last month (August) I watched as they made their nest in my bathroom court-yard amongst the ferns and managed to get a nice pic of this perfect little home!

But before they could occupy this neat little space, the Karoo Thrush started snooping around, obviously having seen the activity of nest-building, and Robbie and his wife gave up the idea of laying eggs here.

At the moment there's a war raging in my garden. It started when the Karoo thrush decided to evict Robbie from inside my house and claim the space as her own and for months Robbie never came near the house. Luckily he has returned, often spending time in my lounge and dining room and for a moment there I thought they might choose the thatch roof over my plasma TV to make a nest, but that hasn't happened yet. But out in the garden, the minute the Thrush sees the Robbie, the chase is on, and when Robbie spots the Thrush, his tail stands straight up in the air!

Then, over the past two days, I watched as the female Robin kept on going in and out of one of the Restio plants in my garden, so this morning I decided to investigate and see if they were making a new nest.

And 'lo and behold, there was the fruits of their labour, two beautiful spotted eggs! When I approached, Mrs. Robbie hurriedly left the nest, giving me a couple of minutes to get this one photograph and she was back the minute I turned my back. Hopefully the Thrush is not aware of their little hiding place. It's only about 12 inches off the ground and very private and obscured, but it always amazes me the funny places the Robin chooses to nest.

When I looked back, Robbie was sitting close-by, keeping an eye on me and making sure his wife could return in safety. I managed to get in a quick capture.

The nest is usually built solely by the female in about 1-14 days, gathering a clump of material together before shuffling its body into it to form a cup. It is usually made out of bark fragments, twigs, dry grass, fern fronds, rootlets, dead leaves, moss and seed pods and lined with finer fibres, such as hair, rootlets and plant inflorescences. Egg-laying season is from about June-January, peaking around October-November. It lays 2-3 eggs, which are incubated solely by the female for about 14-19 days.

The female broods the chicks throughout the night and intermittently through the day, for the first 5-11 days of their lives. They are fed by both parents, eventually leaving the nest at about 14-18 days old, remaining dependent on their parents for about 5-7 weeks more. During this period the adults are particularly viglant about protecting their young, sometimes attacking snake such as the boomslang (Dispholidus typus) and Cape cobra (Naja nivea) - luckily none of those around here.

So over the next few weeks I'll be keeping a close eye and hope to catch a glimpse of the babies when they leave the nest.

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Monday amid the chaos

A found bird's nest in my collection

in the waning shadow of a weekend :: amid the chaos of a new week beginning :: this nest reminds me of wonders to come . for that I am ever thankful

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Eggs with a conscience

From beasts we scorn as soulless,
In forest, field and den,
The cry goes up to witness
The soullessness of men.
~M. Frida Hartley





Free-range eggs are laid by happy hens that roam freely around outdoors in the day and snuggle up in their barn at night. Hens that are fed a vegetarian diet of grains and pulses with no animal by-products or fishmeal. Happy hens who are free to chase bugs, graze on the grass and have regular sand baths to rid themselves of lice and fleas.


The benefits of free-range eggs are numerous, like the fact that these eggs are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E. Omega-3 fatty acids are not naturally produced by the human body so it's essential for us to include them as a part of a balanced diet. Vitamin E is an important antioxidant that also protects the omega-3 fats. But for me the biggest benefit of free-range eggs is the fact that they are produced under natural, non-cruel conditions.



Battery cage hens - Pic from "Say no to battery chickens and eggs"


In the battery cage system (the dominant form of egg farming in the world), the hens are confined in cages with a sloping floor so that their eggs roll away in order to prevent faecal contamination of the eggs.


The cages are normally stacked on top of each other in houses with no access to natural
light. The houses use various automated conveyor belt systems to bring the hens food, capture their waste and take away their eggs.


Because of the cramped conditions (sometimes less than an A4 sheet of paper per hen – for life!), alternative farming methods for eggs have increased in popularity. These include barn, free-range and organic (also free range, but with the additional requirement of organically produced feed).


“Freedom to behave naturally” (one of the 5 freedoms that all animals should receive according to the Farm Animal Welfare Council in the UK) is one of the greatest welfare concerns for the world’s egg laying chickens.


Research has shown that hens have a strong preference for laying their eggs in a nest and are highly motivated to perform nesting behaviour. Hens also show a strong preference for a littered floor both for pecking and scratching and for dust-bathing, and a preference to perch, especially at night.


Battery caging prevents all of this as the hens are kept in barren cages without perches or litter, and are so confined for most of their lives that they cannot even flap their wings. I have bought battery cage chickens that have come to the end of their egg-laying life and upon releasing them in the hen house, they couldn't even walk! Their leg muscles had wasted away and it took me weeks of pampering before they started moving around. These chickens were also unusually aggressive with no social skills whatsoever, pecking one another and fighting constantly. I eventually had to separate them from the rest of the chickens into their very own hen house, but they never acquired any form of 'natural' chicken behaviour and just existed to the end of their days, fighting, squabbling and generally looking miserable...


The question is not, "Can they reason?" nor, "Can they talk?" but rather, "Can they suffer?" 
~Jeremy Bentham



Free-range eggs from my hens - I get between 6 a day


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