Field Notes · Catnum 165861 · score 11 — high uncertainty
Nest on trestle railroad bridge across a rock, built on a 6 inch flange of a 12 inch I girder, 20 feet from the ground and within a foot of a track, directly under it and near middle of the road. Compactly made of grasses and mud and lined thickly with grass blades. 60 trains a day crossed this bridge. I flushed her off when I walked over the nest but not when a train passed by.
Metadata · Catnum 165861
Date11 May 1909
LocalityAndalusia, Bucks, Pennsylvania, USA
Coordinates40.064652, -74.969294 ↗ map
CollectorMiller, Richard F.
Eggs in Set4
Specimen TypeE
Incubationunknown (transcribed as “Female on nest”)
Identificationunknown
Nest Height6.1 m (20 feet)
Nest Support6 inch flange of 12 inch I girder on railroad bridge
Nest Materialsgrasses, mud
Nest Lininggrass blades
Nest Settingrailroad bridge across a rock
Nest NotesBuilt within a foot of railroad track, directly under it and near middle of the road. Female flushed when observer walked over nest but not when trains passed by. 60 trains per day crossed this bridge.
Further Details761 | 80/4
✦ Anecdote
This robin built its nest remarkably close to an active railroad track with 60 trains passing daily, yet the female would only flush when a human approached but remained calm during train passages, showing remarkable adaptation to industrial noise.