Farmers Weekly Review

Why are we seeing robins now? Don’t they usually wait till Spring! What nature-lover doesn’t like to engage in a friendly little competition with their friends and family each year over who sees the first robin?
I saw my first last week.
Bird lovers often keep detailed notes year-to-year comparing when the first robin was seen and hypothesize why they were early or late. I remember one cold, snowy New Year’s Day in the concrete and limestone of downtown Joliet, I was shocked to see crabapple trees loaded with robins munching away on the frosty fruits.
I posted this year’s finding to my social media account, and most of the responses were “Did they get the wrong date?” or “Did they forget to migrate?”
Well, I am here to tell you, scientifically, that repeated research has found, that they are not going far anymore.
The robin returning has long been spring’s calling card for Illinoisans. But do our local robins migrate? Their Latin name implies that they do –Turdus migratorius. Studies, particularly with the inclusion of technology, have shown many robins are closer than you may think all winter long.
Robins feed on invertebrates and fruit. This is the key to their winter behavior. Robins follow the food.
We may think that the robins have migrated to warmer weather when we no longer see them in our backyards. But these sturdy birds are still around in areas where berries are plentiful, while their other main food, invertebrates, are unavailable under the frozen ground.
The Journey North American Robin Tracking Project (just google this) is part of the fascinating Citizen Science website that tracks animal migrations of all kind. They found that robins don’t migrate in the typical north-to-south pattern to seek warmer weather, but rather have nomadic patterns following food sources. If local berry sources are depleted, they will move to the nearest area of bountiful food.
Birds of a feather flock together. Contrary to their territorial behaviors in the spring and summer, robins gather in large flocks in fall and winter. Flocks offer several benefits — greater numbers to spot and warn for predators, as well as the ability to source food. And unlike their more terrestrial habits in the breeding season, robins spend fall and winter in trees and woodlands near sources of open water.
Local birds have an advantage when it comes to breeding season. They expend far less energy and time returning to their breeding grounds in spring where robins once again follow the food and this time to their favorite invertebrate, the earthworm.
Robins start to reappear in backyards when temperatures start to climb above 37°F. As the soil softens, earthworms begin their own “migration” up toward the warming soil’s top few inches and within the grasp of a hungry robin’s beak.
So why did I see robins when the temperatures were fluctuating down to the single digits? Again, the answer was food. I have several berry-producing trees (particular favorite of the robin, my Washington Hawthorn trees. And they had a bounteous year of berry productions in 2024.
Here is some additional information about one of birder’s most beloved backyard birds that you may not have known: Robins are one of the most common songbirds found in all 50 states. They are equally at home in a suburban backyard as they are in a forest, field, golf course or tundra.
Robins are the largest member of the thrush family. Both male and female robins measure from 8″ to 11″.
Not all robins look the same. As with most birds, the young have different identification colors and patterns as they grow from nestling to adult. And the sex of birds is opposite of what we think of in most humans. Males are the flashy ones here. The females of all birds are the ones dressed in camouflage. They are most often found sitting on the nest.
So, no need to draw attention. Males: The male’s iconic redbreast makes this one of the first birds children learn to identify. Females: Females are similarly colored, but are feathered with more muted tones to avoid being noticed by predators as they alone incubate the eggs. Juveniles: Young robins have speckled back feathers and muted colors similar to adult females.
Only females have a brood patch — an area of skin that is featherless during brooding season, rich in blood vessels, that aids in transferring heat to the incubating eggs and newly hatched young. Robins also have a full molt when they lose their feathers, once a year, between late July and October.
Males are the first to return to the breeding area in spring and can be quite territorial. Master Naturalist volunteers are often asked about this odd behavior as homeowners report the male robins hitting their windows as they see their reflection as competition.
Homeowners can put up some distracting image to block the reflection, but the bird often just moves to another window. Fortunately, once the birds select a mate, this behavior usually resolves on its own.
Females determine the nest site, and they build it from the inside out, creating a cuplike inner structure of mud and grasses using the wrist of their wing to form the cup. Mud is essential to this process and if no mud is available, nest building may be delayed.
The rest of the nest can be a wide assortment of natural materials and human refuse, such as candy wrappers, twigs, and animal hair.
Robins lay a clutch of four eggs, one per day, in that unmistakable robin’s egg blue. Fledglings hatch in 13 to 15 days. Newborn robins are helpless, featherless and pink, but they soon grow their first feathers. Young birds leave the nest in two weeks before they can fly, much to the distress of human finders, but the parents are still caring for them, and they should be left alone.
Robins can have one to three broods per year and build a new nest for each. Robins often return to the same area, yard, even tree annually to nest.
So, whether it is today, tomorrow or the first day of spring, enjoy the robins!