In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

American Robin Turdus migratorius Soon after we moved to the woods, my husband and I cut paths through our favorite areas and placed benches along the way. One of the benches overlooks the South Fork of the Root River. A grove of red cedar trees grows here. One day in late October as I approached the bench, I heard the sharp clucking calls of robins. I sat on the bench to watch and listen. The birds were flying erratically among the trees, tumbling to the ground, flying up again, and falling off perches. I realized I was witnessing a raucous party of inebriated robins feasting on fermenting cedar berries. Wild berries and cultivated fruits comprise about sixty percent of the robin’s diet. Insects , earthworms, snails, spiders, and other invertebrates make up the rest. These birds predict the coming of rain with much singing, which makes you wonder if they are anticipating the juicy worms that rise to the surface in wet weather. Who hasn’t seen a robin hop a short distance on a freshly mown lawn wet from dew or rain, stop as if to look and listen, then pull a succulent meal out of the ground? Experiments have shown that the birds, contrary to popular belief, locate worms by sight, not sound. Robins occur year around across the country except for winter in the far north. When I was a child growing up in southeast Minnesota, I used to compete with other children for the first spring sighting of a robin, which usually happened in early March. In recent years, however, I have often seen these birds in the winter. The males arrive first on their nesting grounds and sing to defend their territories. When the females come, several males will pursue one female, who will choose a mate for the sake of his territory. The nest is a cup of grasses and twigs with a middle layer of mud, built mostly by the female on a low horizontal branch, light fixture, or a ledge of a house, barn, or bridge. She forms the nest by pressing her breast against the edges. She lays four pale blue eggs and sits on them while her mate guards the site. Both parents feed their nestlings a diet of insects and worms. The young birds leave the nest about two weeks after hatching. As with all immature thrushes, they have spotted breasts, which help to camouflage them. While the father continues to feed the fledglings, the mother begins a second brood. In spite of their nests frequently falling prey to predators such as crows and domestic cats, robins are doing well, in part because they don’t have the hardship of long migrations and they have learned to capitalize on the presence of buildings for nest sites and lawns for worms and other delicacies. Unfortunately, the very lawns that provide them food may also contain harmful chemicals. 69 ...

Share