Year-Round Robins

Learn:

For many, robins are messengers of the arrival of spring. Their bright chest color on our drab early spring lawns are a welcome sight. But did you know that you can look for robins at any time of the year?

Spring is nesting time, which means that they are actively staking out territories and building nests. You may even see robins fighting mid-air or chasing each other on the ground to secure great nesting sites.

Summer brings nests made of grass and mud, usually in the lower half of trees or in bushes. But all they really need is a flat location - I’ve seen them on top of supplies in our open garage, and on a selfie post at Horicon Marsh. And who of us is not excited upon finding those blue, blue robins eggs upon closer inspection?

Babies fledge, or fly from the nest, about two weeks after hatching. But they’ll spend the rest of the summer hanging out with dad and learning to fend for themselves while the mom robin builds a new nest for another clutch of eggs.

In the fall, between 80-90% of robins fly south for the winter. Some may go as far as Florida, but most settle somewhere in-between.

The last 10-20% stay here in the winter months, adding downy feathers to their bodies to stay warm. Look for them in flocks in woody areas. They switch over to a diet of dried fruits (think wild cherries, crabapples, etc) so that they don’t starve from lack of insects and worms.

Read:

A delightful book to share with kids is “Robins! How They Grow Up” by Eileen Christelow. It is filled with facts about a robin’s first year of life, and paralleled by a couple of young robins who tell their story in first person (bird?) narrative.

Do:

Robins use mud in the construction of their nest. Consider leaving a muddy puddle in your yard as their “quarry”. This will also help other native birds like swallows and phoebes.