Robins!!!!!

[martyinmi]

We haven't seen hide nor hair of a Robin since sometime in late September.

I looked out the window today at about 2pm and saw about a dozen or so picking away at the bare spots on my back lawn. I had my wife and son come over to confirm that my eyes were seeing what I thought I was seeing.

My wife just hollered a few minutes ago (5pm) and said there was a bunch of them again, this time on our front yard. I went over to look and sure enough there were roughly 50 of them.

Makes me wonder what's up with them. We surmised that maybe they finally got cold up there in the North Country and were headed South looking for warmer weather and our yard looked like a good place to drop in on and grab a vegetarian snack?

We had one hang around all winter about 10 years ago and eat off the feeder, which we thought was weird, but I'm told not that uncommon.

Any of my fellow Central Michiganders see any yet?

[Al_Smith]

Nephew you obviously have the subspecies of the Eskimo robin .All the normal robins flew the coop about November .

[clww]

Here at The Beach, I've noticed the last three years they only really disappear for about a month.

[SwampDonkey]

Robins up this way don't migrate very far at all. They winter down along the coast here in NB. I've seen robins in milder winters lots of times. Some people are very much mistaken that they eat only worms and bugs. They eat fruit to and in winter that includes cranberries (high bush) and dried apples, thorn plums, rose hips, wild raisin, virginia creeper. The old dried up apples from fall on the crab apple on the lawn here are some of the first things the robins eat when they come back. Down to my aunts in Sussex, NB the robins never leave.

Crows are migratory to, but lots of them stay here all winter.

[Jeff]

Not all robins migrate. We see them here quite often. If they have a place where there is a thermal break, and a steady source of food, they have no reason to leave.

[chet]

Can't say as I've seen one around these parts for quite some time now. And I don't expect ta see um for at least 3 more months.

[chevytaHOE5674]

We have 1 or 2 that hang around the farm all winter and have been doing so for the last 2 or 3 winters now. They live in the barn and they somehow find enough to eat from all the apples on the ground and all the livestock feed around.

[Kevin]

They're up here too, coldest time of the year.

http://www.sootoday.com/content/news/details.asp?c=66359

[Wellmud]

martyinmi, I am thinking that those robbins had migrated south but after that cold spell hit far south last week they just decided they might as well come home :laugh:

[tree-farmer]

They probably got the same budget priced GPS that my buddy has.  ;D Cross county adventures is its favorite game...

[Al_Smith]

Well now I can't help but wonder if there might be subspecies of robins just like geese .Reason being the early spring return of the male robins are a sure sign spring has sprung in these parts .They do not stick around during winter .

Conversely the species of resident Canada geese called the giant Canada almost never leave . I might add they are better at predicting incoming bad weather than all the weather people in the world combined.All you have to do is watch them,they know .

[MIsawyer]

Yeah I noticed the some hanging around last year and looked up some info on line and found like Jeff said not all robins migrate.

[SwampDonkey]

The only other 2 species of NA robin are in Mexico. My bird book shows the American robin stay here in the Maritimes and eastern Newfoundland year around. In NB down on the Fundy coast region and in southern half of NS. They summer across the north clear up to the arctic ocean.

We have Canada geese that stay here and bread in the summer, but they are not native nesters here in NB. These were problem geese that our corn ball Premier Frank Mckenna allowed to be brought in from Ontario. He was not the brightest character we ever had for a Premier and we've had some doozies. We are only in the flight path of the wild geese that always migrate back and forth from the north.

[LAZERDAN]

Certain Death

[Al_Smith]

Now just how does one "allow" a goose to do anything .A goose is a goose you can't dictate rules to it .The only one I know is what's good for the goose is good for the gander which doesn't always hold true

[Wick]

Some flocks made it down here. I always enjoy when the robins come through.