Last weekend a flock of robins landed in my backyard.
They were everywhere! According to the National Audubon Society’s The Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behavior:
Wintering American Robins occupy mainly the same habitat types as they do in the breeding season…if the ground is not frozen, they forage for worms…American Robins are often gregarious on their wintering grounds, moving in flocks as they seek out fruit-laden plants.
The flock had more than Robins, too. Two Northern Flickers were sitting atop my fence while the Robins were foraging and they didn’t leave until the Robins did.
Luckily for these birds the ground was not frozen, and this Robin above grabbed a huge earthworm about 1 second after I took this photo. It looked like they wanted to stick around for a long while eating, but then it started to rain hard. They flew up into the trees to wait it out. I found this curious, because most of the trees didn’t have leaves and it wasn’t any drier up there. Maybe the sound of the rain covers up predator noises, so by instinct they fly away?
Once the rains did come, my Rain Garden filled up. This is the first winter since we built it last year and it has worked very well.
During the summer this will be filled with native grasses, insects, and flowering shrubs. While it might look bare during the winter, it’s also easier to watch the raindrops splashing in the ponding water.
Robins are a bit more exotic now to us, we don’t see them here much. The rain garden is doing great isn’t it?
Love the mystery of why they wait out the rain on a branch, not the ground–could it be they don’t like the splash from underneath, their back feathers being better equipped to repel the water?
Your curiosity reminds me of my lifelong one, which I’ve asked often of birders only to be looked at like I’ve got two heads, or at least like they can’t believe I don’t know the answer. But still . . . they’ve never answered it satisfactorily by my way of thinking, which I admit is amateurish. The question: Where do birds sleep at night when they’re not nesting? Especially when it’s cold or snowy or rainy? The answer I always get: I guess they find safe crooks in tree branches or under eaves, or, my least favorite, “just around.” But that only sounds like a guess to me. I’d like something a little more definitive. Bird books never address this. Any of your readers care to weigh in?
I posted your question on Slugyard’s facebook page and the answer came back shrubs and bushes. Makes sense I suppose.
Thanks, and it’s as sensible as any I’ve gotten. Did just google the question, “Where do birds sleep at night when they are not nesting?” (Why have I never thought of doing this before?:-), and got a great answer specific to species at:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCMQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wvdnr.gov%2Fwildlife%2Fmagazine%2FArchive%2F06winter%2FAvianQuestions.pdf&ei=8lEjT5CsHoPL0QGVoODSCA&usg=AFQjCNErZf3R-SecqtoqbXENshceYdbIOg
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much better a flock of robins than a flock of starlings! One of my earlist memories is of Admiral Bird, a robin who hung around our yard and I scared away by running at it when I was only 2 or 3. The family was very upset with me!
I love this. I’ve been meaning to post a few pics of the huge flock of Robins that descended on some winter berries just outside our flat. Love these birds and their melodies.
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We’ve had quite a few robins around this winter. I’m going to have to pay attention and see what they do the next time it rains!
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Here in the UK we have a few robins unlike before.
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Great post Mike. I’m in Toronto Canada and our first American Robins of the year arrive about a week or so ago. It’s been unseasonally mild up here his year so they may be earlier than normal. Now I’m waiting for the hummingbirds!
Geoff
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