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mxk3

So...robins don't leave anymore?

mxk3 z5b_MI
10 years ago

It's cold today. It is flurrying. We are going to have *highs* in the teens this week. And there are many robins outside pecking away at the ground looking for food, snapping open seeds and such. Of course, no worms, the top layer of soil is frozen. Those birds are fat, too. Their chatter on a cold, grey day is a welcome sound :0)

So - they don't leave anymore? I thought they migrated for the winter.

Comments (23)

  • mnwsgal
    10 years ago

    Even in our freezing cold and snow covered winters some robins stay all year while others migrate.

  • diggerdee zone 6 CT
    10 years ago

    Yes, I've seen the same thing the last year or so - people get excited when they see the "first robin" in spring but then it dawns on us that we never really saw them leave....

    It's been fairly warm here, save for an odd couple days or so, so we've had no sustained cold, so I haven't noticed thay they've left yet... if they will....

    Dee

  • ryseryse_2004
    10 years ago

    Some have always stayed. I am surprised every year because people seem to think a robin is the first sign of spring. No - if they think there is enough to eat to get through the winter, they stay.

  • tepelus
    10 years ago

    People think I'm nuts when I tell them I often hear and sometimes see robins throughout the winter. It's in our minds that all robins migrate and return in the spring. They don't. Some do, but some retreat into the woods during the winter, usually.

    Karen

  • terrene
    10 years ago

    Robins are partially migratory which means they may or may not migrate as needed to find food. They will hang around if food resources are available, such as abundant berries and fruits, and when there is little or no snow cover because they have access to food on the ground, such as insects in the leaf litter.

  • Ruth_MI
    10 years ago

    Here's an interesting link on the subject.

    Here is a link that might be useful: U of M Dearborn robin report

  • harryshoe zone6 eastern Pennsylvania
    10 years ago

    As stated above, as long as there is food, they will stay.

    {{gwi:229576}}

  • tiffy_z5_6_can
    10 years ago

    Funny, I saw one today and was as awed as some of you. They usually migrate to the woods here - Nova Scotia - but this female was having a feast of berries in a native bush growing by the side of the road. She was by herself - that's unusual. It's been minus 17C here the last few days and a nor'easter is moving in with 30 cm of snow. Hopefully she headed for shelter as the day wore on.

    Nice photo harryshoe! Handsome fella!

  • mxk3 z5b_MI
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    What a cheerful picture! :0)

  • diggerdee zone 6 CT
    10 years ago

    LOL, Kevin! That is too funny. Didn't even notice that till you mentioned it!

    :)
    Dee

  • harryshoe zone6 eastern Pennsylvania
    10 years ago

    Thanks. A lucky shot through the dining room window. What's amazing is how fast they swallow a berry. I just guess and shoot when the Robin looks toward a berry because once it picks, the berry is gone.

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    10 years ago

    i spotted one .. the day before mx posted this ...

    and after a week of single digits at night ... havent seen one for days ....

    most of the blue jays left also ... no doubt ....hitched a ride on the midnight train to GA ... lol ...

    the finches have reappeared though ...

    ken

    Here is a link that might be useful: gotta love the pips ....

  • daisyincrete Z10? 905feet/275 metres
    10 years ago

    When I moved from the U.K. to Crete in the Mediterranean Sea, one of the few things I missed was the garden robin.
    There had always been a robin following me around the garden, keeping me company and entertaining me with that beautiful, soft, warbling, song.
    Even at work there was a robin who came to greet me everyday. He knew that I had a bag of dried apricots in my pocket. He became very tame.
    In the springtime, he would not eat his apricot, but would sit on my shoulder whilst I bit off three or four small pieces for him. Then he would carefully line them up in his beak
    and carry them back to his nest for his babies.
    I knew that there were robins on Crete, but I had never seen one.
    Until now.
    This one must live nearby as he turns up every day.
    I enjoy his company as I work, but keep an eye out for the local cats.
    The European robin is a lot smaller than the American robin.
    That is a great photo harryshoe,
    .Here is my new friend.

    {{gwi:284233}}

    {{gwi:284234}}

    {{gwi:284235}}

    Daisy

  • aachenelf z5 Mpls
    10 years ago

    OMG! He's adorable. Quite different from our own. I didn't realize there were different species.

    Kevin

  • diggerdee zone 6 CT
    10 years ago

    Great, Ken, thanks. It's been 45 minutes since I read your post - and didn't even dare look at the link - and I've been singing that darn song over and over since!

    The funny thing is, I've been only singing the background, ala "and the Pips" from the RIchard Pryor show skit (and man oh man, am I dating myself, lol!)

    :)
    Dee

    edited because GW seems to be having a lot of difficulty with quotation marks!

    This post was edited by diggerdee on Sun, Dec 22, 13 at 17:12

  • diggerdee zone 6 CT
    10 years ago

    Holy Cow! They also seem to be having trouble with links! Let me try this for the 7th time.....

    Here is a link that might be useful: And the Pips....

  • prairiemoon2 z6b MA
    10 years ago

    I noticed Robins still here the other day after reading this thread. We had a lot of berries this year on the Grey Dogwood shrub and a couple of hollies in the corner near it. I saw three robins eating the berries on both the other day. I'm surprised that they didn't strip the shrub, but they left some and the squirrels were making a daily trek to the shrub and eating the berries too. It has been funny to watch because a lot of the branches are thin and light and the berries are on the tips of them, so the squirrels have to do all kinds of aerial feats to get at them. lol

    Gladys is amazing and Midnight Train to Georgia is one of my all time favorites. Now that song will be linked to birds flying south in the fall. Cute. (g)

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    10 years ago

    i never saw the pips sans Gladys ... hilarious ...

    anyone actually know.. how far south robins go .... do they actually go as far as GA ... on migration i mean ...

    from MI .... they probably only need to get south of OH .... to be in z7 .... or maybe they like red clay ...

    ken

  • cp737
    8 years ago

    Just discovered this forum. Don't know if it's still active...

    Recently there have been an inundation of robins around our 2-story high bird bath. Living in Staten Island, we don't much feed the birds in the summer, as there are plenty of good pickings. And I thought generally, robins don't fly much if not necessary, nor frequent upstairs birdbaths.

    Very odd.

    Thoughts?

  • green_go (Canada, Ontario, z 5a)
    8 years ago

    Some robins stayed for the winter here in Canada even during the frigid winters we had in the last 2 years. They feed mostly on frozen crabapples - we have several around our home.

  • cp737
    8 years ago

    Yes, I read that.

    The thing is that it's only September 28-29th here in Staten Island, right across from Manhattan, NY, and I'm trying to figure out what's going on here.


  • Campanula UK Z8
    8 years ago

    I think (American) robins are rather like our blackbirds - there are some which hang out all winter whilst others fly south to southern France or Spain, even just down to the south coast. Not totally migratory, just an innate search for (slightly) warmer climes and easier food pickings which relieves the pressure on those which stay behind.

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