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The biker chicks have flown the nest!

The biker chicks have flown the nest!

Thursday 06 June 2024

The biker chicks have flown the nest!

Thursday 06 June 2024


The blush of robins who made their home inside the fairing of a motorbike in the Vale have all flown the nest, leaving the Brock family with memories and videos of their feathered friends.

Oliver Brock was the first to notice the winged invasion of his 2017 Kawasaki Versus 650 SE, on 1 May.

He had intended to ride his motorbike into work as normal but, on spotting the mother robin building a nest inside the front fairing, he decided to leave her to it.

That means for over a month he has been motorbike-less - while also building up an extensive library of videos of the hatching process and the five fledging birds who were raised inside his bike.

The idea came from Mr Brock's wife, Morag - with the 'Robin-cam' launching during early May, before the eggs had hatched.

Over the course of a number of weeks, the Brocks' and hundreds of viewers watched as the eggs began to hatch, five chicks grew, their parents cleared waste out from the nest, and delivered food to the hungry young birds. 

kawasaki robins

Pictured: In recent days Oliver Brock had noted that the chicks were "getting much more mobile" and seemed to be "mithering too!". They definitely appeared to have good appetites in the videos showing them being fed. 

By 09:00 on Wednesday, all of the chicks had flown the nest with Mr Brock sharing the news to the Guernsey Wildlife page on Facebook. 

"And so, the final two of the Kawasaki Robins take flight and leave the nest. It happened around 9am this morning, and the nest has been empty since," he wrote.

"We've had such a lovely time watching them hatch and grow to this stage, and would like to thank everyone for their interest and engagement this last few weeks, you've been great!"

Mr Brock also confirmed that the Robin cam livestream has been taken down but he intends to put up all of the videos of the bike chicks "so people can remind themselves of the fun we've been through together".

kawasaki UK robin nest

The livestream was running for up to seven hours a day, catching the parent birds removing waste from the nest and returning with food for the chicks.

Some of the videos can be watched HERE

What we've learned

  • There are multiple collective nouns for a group of Robins.

The most commonly used is a 'round' but other examples include a breast, blush, rabble, bobbin, squabble, rash, hood, and riot.

  • Baby robins produce their waste in fecal sacs

These are encased in strong membranes that don't leak, and they may at a glance look like disposable nappies as they are white and look like a small sac. The parent birds pick up these sacs with their beaks to remove them from the nest.

Screenshot_2024-06-06_at_10.31.14.png

The Kawasaki Robins were seen doing this on videos posted by Mr Brock. 

  • A Robin chick takes around two weeks to hatch

Mr Brock first spotted the mother robin building her nest inside his motorbike fairing on 1 May. By 10 May he posted that she was "clearly incubating" with the father robin feeding her inside the nest. 

On 22 May, the first egg hatched. Four others were to follow shortly afterwards. 

When robins first hatch they are tended to by both parents - as evidenced in the videos captured by the Robin-cam, with both elder robins recorded bringing food to the chicks and removing their waste. 

Feathers begin to grow after three days and the body is more or less covered after 10 days. The eyes begin to open after five days.

  • Robins fly the nest at around two weeks old

Again, evidenced by the Robin-cam videos of the Brock's biker chicks. 

The first egg hatched on 22 May, with the rest following. The first robin is believed to have flown the nest on Monday night, with the rest following by yesterday morning- fifteen days after the first egg hatched.  

Wildlife websites predict it will take the young robins around another fortnight to become strong fliers and fully independent birds.

READ MORE...

WATCH: Robin builds a wheel-y good nest

WATCH: Robin cam goes live

WATCH: Kawasaki chicks are "fairing well

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