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Pennsylvania Gardening

Robins this winter?

15 years ago

I was out for a lengthy walk last weekend and saw several robins, to say the least. At one point I walked by a tree, and sitting on the bare branches were about twenty robins.

During the week I commented to someone that the robins came back unusually early this year. He said that the robins never left. He said that in his yard, he's had several robins all winter.

Has anyone else noticed this? I've never seen a winter with robins.

I might buy bird seed "for distressed birds" today, because it supposedly contains dehydrated insects, and that might be something for the robins.

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Comments (6)

Diannadesigns gardens
15 years ago
That is true. They migrate to a local woods for the winter and come back to yards and such as weather or foods needs arise.
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kr222
15 years ago
We have robins pop up here throughout the winter as well. Just the other day there must have been 100 robins in my small yard pecking around my composters and on a clear (not snow-covered) stretch of soil under my holly. I posted a picture on my blog, but it was tough to get a good picture from inside. It was an amazing site seeing them all in one place. The same thing happened last year as well. I placed out extra plastic plant saucers for them to use as birdbaths. I had to keep changing the water to keep it clean. It seemed as though they really needed a good clean drink of water and a bath. Even though I have feeders out, they seem to like looking for worms in the bare gardens and around the composter the most.

Here is a link that might be useful: Robins in Kim's Garden
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Comments (9)
Y'all, Susan is a lot of fun and you can't hold it against her just because she's telling you the truth. LOL I know that we all grew up believing that robins are the first sign of spring, but that's just a myth. We have them here on our land probably 8 winters out of 10, and sometimes we have relatively small numbers and sometimes we have lots of them. They form very large flocks at times.....hundreds if not more. They go wherever they can find plants that have berries and fruits or seeds that they can eat once the earthworms have migrated deeper in the earth. I like to watch them splash and play in our creek where it apparently doesn't bother them that the water is cold and the air is not much warmer. How far north can robins survive the winter? They can take a lot of cold as long as they can find food. If they cannot find adequate food, they'll migrate further south until they find a good supply. It is believed that robins essentially fly far enough south most years to reach areas where the average temperature in winter is at least 36 degrees. I've heard of robins overwintering as far north as Minnesota some years, although I'd be a bit surprised if they are there right now. You can google and find migration maps of the robins, probably at Journey North, but it is likely that no reports of robin migration have been recorded yet this year. I enjoy the birds as much as anyone else and I watch them a lot, and I really haven't seen any of them migrating yet. I did look at the Purple Martin Scout Arrival Map yesterday, and birds are being reported in far south Texas and in parts of southern Florida.
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Comments (7)
Veilchen: I finally bought a field guide to birds, primarily so I could try to identify all (or at least some) of those little brown birds that flood the feeder and the ground under it. I looked up robins (in the National Audubon Society Field Guide to Birds - Eastern Region) - it says: "Although considered a harbinger of spring, robins often winter in the northern states, where they frequent cedar bogs and swamps and are not usually noticed by a casual observer, except when they gather in large roosts, often containing thousands of birds." It would make sense in my area which is cedar country with a pond/abandoned cranberry bog and stream nearby. Lots of wild winterberries near the pond and along the stream. I can visualize the robins moving to the bogs when the worms in the lawn head farther underground for the winter. The birds could chow down on the cedar berries and winterberry fruits. Or they could come down from Canada too. Whatever. The thought of a roost of thousands of robins is a little scary, though. Claire
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Comments (5)
Thanks for all your great advice. I don't really have anyplace off the ground to put food for him. I bought dried cherries and cat food and my 2 dogs ate it immediately! I don't even own a cat..lol He is doing so much better, even leaving the yard for long periods. His friends have returned and he just runs them off! No worm sharing here. He only comes to my door now when I call him. As soon as the 2 doz worms are gone, I think we will be done with the worm buffet! It's 46 here today.
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pinwheel
Original Author
15 years ago
I always thought robins migrated south for the winter. In fact, a lot of people believe that! Based on your responses, I looked it up in a bird book. Robins will migrate south from Canada, but not from Pennsylvania.

Thanks!
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stimpy926
15 years ago
It is myth that they 'fly south for the winter'. They hunker down in the woods, as zgardennut says. They come out and eat my Ilex verticillata berries and bath in my de-iced birdbath.
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greengardener07
15 years ago
Had a few flocks of them in the first Feb blizzard. I enjoy looking at the pictures I took of them in the trees with the snow blowing sideways. Quite a sight!
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katob Z6ish, NE Pa
15 years ago
My brother gets crowds of them in his holly trees and in the ivy infested trees that surround his house. The robins spend the winter feeding on the holly and ivy berries.... they only go back to the lawns when the soil thaws and the earthworms come back close to the surface.
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