Robins Heading South

There was a robin gathering in my yard for the first time ever this weekend, about 20 birds. I've never had more than my locals before but I guess they invited friends to say farewell and thanks for the season of worms and water and nesting spots. Now that nights are dipping below they are on their way to warmer climes. Who gets robins in the winter? When do they arrive? Do they hang in your yard and socialize with you and other robins like they do here in the summer? I looked at the migration routes and it looks like some go to CA and some to AZ and TX and probably Mexico. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

I notice them here in Houston in December - February. They may come earlier than that and leave later, but that is pretty much the peak time for them that I've seen.

They are down here, mostly in late winter and spring. Lots' of trees and bushes that are full of berries for them to enjoy at that time.

In our area the appearance of the Robin is the first sign of spring! My bird books show them as year round residents in our area but I don't recall ever seeing them in the fall or winter! This spring I saw dozens of them together foraging on the ground. Year before last we had a pair nest in the birch tree outside our living room window...what a treat that was!

Robins are pretty much a 'Spring Thing' here in Arkansas, too. I love to hear the songs/calls that they make and they are not as skittish as some other birds are so it makes taking pictures easier.

When we lived 2 counties further north we had some year around. Not here where I am now. They start to show up very gradually starting in mid-late February. A little after the Bluebirds it seems.

Thanks all for sharing. It's interesting but alot of state sites in the middle lower 48 say that robins overwinter but if you talk to people they say they don't see them in winter. hmmmmmmm. Same thing for the PNW. There are sites in WA that say they overwinter but the WA folks snort at that. I'm glad you southerners get to appreciate them in the winter months. They are one of the most people friendly birds I have. They clean up the garden in the spring for nest material and bob on the phone lines for water for worms and follow me around when I plant out in spring for the worms for the nestlings. The males are incredible parents. The moms, well to be honest, they don't do much after the eggs hatch. Its the males that feed the nestlings then they hang with them quite awhile after they learn to fly, I guess showing them how to find worms? That's just been my experience with the nests in my yard.

Question to ponder . . . if 95% of a bird population moves south for the winter but 5% stay, do you say they overwinter or not?? That's probably the sort of dilemma that your books / sources face - while most people might not be seeing them, some do, and the sites have to acknowledge that. Maybe if the books had more space they might give more detail like that, but then they'd be too heavy to carry around ;-)

Resin

Good point Resin. I vote for the heavy book. My 'Flora' book has its own carrying case and table in my office. I'd make room for a tome on birds.

I am 40 something miles west of DellRose and I have them year round. Not many in the heat of summer in my yard, but a mile away in a park on the river-bottom where it's cool. They are here all winter tho.

We have a few in the NE corner of MA who winter over--wherever they go they certainly enjoyed the berries on our Cornelian cherry tree--none are left. berries that is!

Its funny. The robins don't eat my cherries but the chickadees sure do! They usually wait til they start to ferment and then they get tipsy. You have to be careful not to step on them cuz they will stay on the ground til they get orientated again.

I counted over a hundred robins in our small pasture a few mornings ago, stopping over on their journey south. When I was a kid growing up in the SF Bay Area, I remember flocks of cedar waxwings coming through and getting drunk on pyracantha berries - lots of woozy birdies.