January 8th, 2016

It’s not unusual to see a robin or two over the winter, but this morning they number about 100 at the Blair OEE Centre!  On Monday morning this week, following the holidays when the feeders aren’t kept up daily, there was a single robin on the ground under a row of cedars.  Tuesday there were 3 drinking meltwater on the lid of the dumpster, Wednesday we counted about 20 or so, and this morning they are swooping in to the tree tops along the edge of the yard by the dozens.

(Take this test to see how accurate you are at estimating numbers of birds in a flock!  Be prepared to be humbled!)

Most robins migrate south, as it’s pretty difficult to get worms – their primary food source – from frozen ground.  For whatever reasons, a few may stick around through the winter months.  Robins aren’t typically feeder birds as they are unable to easily digest seeds, but they may be drawn by the presence of other birds.  The Journey North website suggests: “Winter robins eat berries, other fruits, and seeds they find on shrubs, trees, and vines. If robins happen to overwinter near you, you can offer them frozen or fresh fruit. They’ll go for apple slices, raisins, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and cherries.”  Here at Blair they are feeding on the fruit of hackberry trees, wild grape, and buckthorn.  The highbush cranberry we planted along the stream years ago is normally a magnet for winter robins but they produced almost no berries this fall, so that source is a bit of a bust.

Robins drinking melt-water on the lid of the dumpster at Blair this week:

These robins were sheltering from a combined temperature/wind chill of -40C at Blair in January 2014.