We have visiting 3 robins to our garden feeder. One is a very pretty little thing, One has no tail & the third has no tail & a scraggy breast. Here are 2 pics taken in the last few days , unfortunately  I have not managed a pic of the third robin. I have a theory about why all three are different.

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No 1. I think is a female having sat on the nest & kept her tail feathers.

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No 2. The male to this paring , having lost his tail in battle.
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No 3. Is a further male who not only lost his tail feathers but also some of his breast feathers fighting NO 2.

Does this seem a reasonable theory or am I completely on the wrong track?

This post was last modified: 11-06-2007 09:02 AM by Xeract.

It sounds quite reasonable to me, although there's always the possiblity that a cat snagged the first chap's tail feathers, and may have caught the other fellow as well?

Kingfisher

I agree it does sound reasonable. Is there also the chance they could have plucked their own feathers out to make the nest?

Sounds like it could be spot on to me. It's always interesting to try and work out animals complex lives and social interactions. Kingfisher has a good point though, it could have been a cat that had got to one of the birds.

The only reason I was thinking it was because of a fight was that the third robin has no tail & scraggy breast feathers, but I bet we will never know...

Robins are far from the gentle little things that they seem. They will fight to the death any other robin that comes into their territory. If you get the chance, read what Eric Hosking says about them in his book "Eye for a bird"