Winter Robins
I woke up this morning with a headache and the news about the selection of the new Doctor Who doesn't help. I think this picture sums up my thoughts on the matter. However, lots of robins were bustling around the tree branches outside the window and that perked me up a bit. I could not resist my digiscoping equipment and tried for some photos through my dirty storm windows:
Every winter we get robins around the Twin Cities. This winter we seem to have more centered in the heart of the metro area and I wonder if our trees are having a bumper berry/nut crop this year. I see flocks on a daily basis in our neighborhood. Sometimes you can hear one robin quietly singing to itself. I wonder if these are birds hatched in the summer of 2008 and practicing their territory songs for the breeding season of 2009?
This robin had a black bill. I wonder if it's from eating berries? I tried to read through some of the food habits of American robins on Birds of North America Online, but was unable to find anything conclusive about winter food habits. In one study, plant material consisted of 90% of their diet, but varied in other areas. I could guess that they could find some animal material. When I worked at the bird store in Wayzata, there was a bait shop in the same mall. They would toss out old minnows and in the winter, robins would fly down and eat them. They are resourceful creatures. I should go out there and see if I could digiscope that.
Mostly, the robins were eating snow on the roof of the apartment building across the way. Birds will eat snow for moisture if they can't find open water. I got a video of it (and you can hear some Ting Ting in the back ground):
Every winter we get robins around the Twin Cities. This winter we seem to have more centered in the heart of the metro area and I wonder if our trees are having a bumper berry/nut crop this year. I see flocks on a daily basis in our neighborhood. Sometimes you can hear one robin quietly singing to itself. I wonder if these are birds hatched in the summer of 2008 and practicing their territory songs for the breeding season of 2009?
This robin had a black bill. I wonder if it's from eating berries? I tried to read through some of the food habits of American robins on Birds of North America Online, but was unable to find anything conclusive about winter food habits. In one study, plant material consisted of 90% of their diet, but varied in other areas. I could guess that they could find some animal material. When I worked at the bird store in Wayzata, there was a bait shop in the same mall. They would toss out old minnows and in the winter, robins would fly down and eat them. They are resourceful creatures. I should go out there and see if I could digiscope that.Mostly, the robins were eating snow on the roof of the apartment building across the way. Birds will eat snow for moisture if they can't find open water. I got a video of it (and you can hear some Ting Ting in the back ground):
Labels: digiscoping, digivideo
posted by birdchick at 1:05 PM
13 Comments:
Robins loooooove berries (frozen or fresh). Judging by that stained beak, that particular one may have found herself a delicious tree full of them!
This is amazing.
This afternoon I thought I saw a robin out my back window and I said to myself "No that can't be a robin, Birdchick would know what it is." Which lead me to think "I really do need to buy her book because I don't really know anything about all these birds here in my urban neighborhood" (or words to that effect)
And what do I see when I do my evening blog check. This wonderful post that helps me feel better about my very impoverished bird identifying skills!
Birdchick for the win again!
Could be worse, they could have chosen Robert Pattinson for the new Doctor. Great video and choice of background music.
Hi there Sharon :-)
Thanks, I always enjoy seing photos of your robin which is quite different from mine in my Scottish garden. Great to see a video too - it helps show the character of the birds when you are unfamiliar with them. I tkae them in my garden too :-D
Your robins always look quite sociable - although I have heard they can behave like starlings too. Generally ours are always having battles to keep others off their territory :-)
All the best for 2009 :-D
There's nothing my family loves more than the late winter/early spring in Florida with the arrival of the robins. Because I am a New Englander, robins were special every spring. Now they pass through on their way back up north for food from our berry trees. My 14-year old son was just asking me when the robins were due in. Thanks for the pictures to tide me over for the next month or so.
Spiky Sandy in Pinellas Park, FL
Check out this new LOL Cats picture: http://mine.icanhascheezburger.com/TemplateView.aspx?tiid=882956
Right up the birder's alley!
We have a group of Robins in one of the Parks in Fargo too. It is interesting that they are sticking around.
I'm surprised to hear how many robins are being reported in Minnesota this winter. I know a few always winter over, but we seem to be seeing more and more now. Good thing they're so adaptable.
I live in Brampton Ontario Canada, just north of Toronto, and today saw a flock of about twenty robins in a tree. We have snow on the ground and this is the first winter I have seen them this early,
I had heard there were winter robins but had never seen them. I was amazed. Don't know what they are eating as the ground is snow covered and I don't see any trees with berries on them.
It brightened my wintery cold day up and hope spring is not far behind. Any other reports from Ontario.
21/01/2009
We live in LeSueur, which is about 55 miles south of Minneapolis and we had a large flock of robins show here about 3 days ago,which amazed my husband and I. I have never seen robins here in the winter before. A few have come early in the spring..only to have it snow again, but never in the middle of winter. I feel so sorry for them with this intense cold snap we are having. They have been flocking at our ornamental crab tree which is still loaded with tiny apples, so there is food for them...in fact, we've seen many birds that we don't recognize this year eating at that tree. It's been a wonder to watch all of them and the squirrels enjoy the treats.
Sherry
I live in LeSueur, which is 55 miles south of Minneapolis, and we were amazed to see a flock of robin show up 3 days ago! We've had a robin or two show up here early in the spring...only to have it snow again, but never during the middle of winter. They have been flocking to our ornamental crab tree, which is still covered with the tiny little apples. I feel so sorry for them with this terrible cold snap that we're having right now. We've seen another flock of birds at the tree, too, that I don't recognize. About the size of a robin, but the feathers seem more fluffed out, greyish brown with flecked breast feathers. Our tree has been a flurry of activity this year and it's been fun watching all of the types of birds..Blue Jays, Cardinals, sparrows, chickadees, a Red Headed woodpecker, another type of woodpecker or is it a Flicker?, Morning Doves beneath it, and of course the squirrels. Isn't nature wonderful?
We have a couple dozen this AM enjoying our heated birdbath and eating the hackberries still on the tree. We saw one or two up until now this winter and this AM a whole flock has been coming and going. We're between Hastings and Red Wing so these Robins must be hanging out in the forests around here. I noticed a lot of hackberries still on the trees this fall and there are still some on now so they must be eating those.
I was amazed when I saw a robin today (January 28,2009)!!! What does this mean? I always thought the sight of robins means spring is near. From reading some other comments, I assume they're winter robins but am still unsure of why they are here. I live in Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada which is just a few minutes north of Toronto.
Post a Comment
<< Home