# Have robins evolved to follow lawn mowers? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 12, 2024, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-robins-evolved-to-follow-lawn-mowers/1001451 "2024-05-12T16:51:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-robins-evolved-to-follow-lawn-mowers/1001451/1 "2024-05-12T16:51:42Z")
Every time I mow the robins hop right over to the freshly mowed sections to look for worms and bugs. Are they older birds that learned by trial and error? Or did they watch Mom doing it? The other birds just fly away. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-robins-evolved-to-follow-lawn-mowers/1001451/2 "2024-05-12T17:11:36Z")
It seems to be behavior learned by a number of bird species. In Texas we had egrets figuring out that by walking behind the mower in the hayfield, juicy bugs would be stirred up. I initially thought that the barn swallows dive-bombing my lawn tractor in Kentucky were harassing me, but realized that they were doing the same thing - feasting on insects taking flight when disturbed by the mower’s passage. It sometimes feels like you’re in the middle of a WWII dogfight, but they always avoid collisions. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-robins-evolved-to-follow-lawn-mowers/1001451/3 "2024-05-12T17:54:49Z")
Quite a few species of birds will follow farm tractors which are mowing or tilling. I think it’s probably learned; whether from watching other birds or from happening to notice once that insects/worms/mice/whatever are being stirred up and dislocated, I don’t know. But I’m not an ornithologist; I just enjoy watching them, though sometimes with mixed sympathies, especially when it’s hawks. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-robins-evolved-to-follow-lawn-mowers/1001451/4 "2024-05-12T18:58:15Z")
I had a bluejay that would do that. When I’d get the lawnmower out on the driveway to get ready to mow he would land on the concrete a few feet away and ‘talk’ to me. Then he’d patrol the areas I mowed. One of his children (I think) took over the job a couple of years later, but then it was over. Something happened to the family, I guess. They lived in a tree in our back yard. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-robins-evolved-to-follow-lawn-mowers/1001451/5 "2024-05-12T19:03:03Z")
Many birds are long-lived and intelligent. I assume it’s learned behavior. Nothing about evolution, except that evolution made them intelligent and long-lived. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-robins-evolved-to-follow-lawn-mowers/1001451/6 "2024-05-12T19:35:15Z")
I’ve seen chicken come running to follow a lawnmower. ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-robins-evolved-to-follow-lawn-mowers/1001451/7 "2024-05-12T19:58:26Z")
We have [Gray Jays (or Canada Jays)](https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/canada-jay) in our part of the world. They’re also known as ‘Picnic Jays’ for their tendency to hang around picnic areas for opportunities. I’m convinced they’ve learned to listen for the sound of power tools. When construction workers take their lunch break Gray Jays appear. We hadn’t see any for years until we had some reno’s done. Just a short while after the sawing started a Gray Jay appeared. It wasn’t interested in the birdseed I put out but it was very appreciative of the sandwich our contractor shared. It was here every day that the saw was running. Haven’t seen one since. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-robins-evolved-to-follow-lawn-mowers/1001451/8 "2024-05-12T20:00:44Z")
I was excited to see this thread as I have wondered about this for a couple of years. Very often when the robot mower is running I see birds walking behind it and the outdoor cats walking behind them. Kind of a parade… ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-robins-evolved-to-follow-lawn-mowers/1001451/9 "2024-05-12T20:04:25Z")
> [@slumtrimpet](#): > > They’re also known as ‘Picnic Jays’ for their tendency to hang around picnic areas for opportunities. Sounds like one of my previous dachshunds. ---
**Author:** ![knavette57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knavette57/32/3871_2.png) [@knavette57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knavette57)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-robins-evolved-to-follow-lawn-mowers/1001451/10 "2024-05-12T20:14:17Z")
I have three acres, one of lawn, two of forest. Birds do seem to appear after a mowing, and we have many birds, anyway. I also set out feeders, and they hear the noise of the feeder being opened up and filled, and they show up right afterwards. They are feasting on cicadas right now, so my feeders are not needing refilled as often. I think the larger birds are feasting on the bugs, however. They look to be quite a mouthful (or beakfull, rather). I love the Canada Jays, they remind me of chickadees, my favorite bird. I do not live in Canada, so I will have to visit to see them (I would not mind that at all, love Canada!). Also: I learned that predatory birds (crows, hawks etc), love intersections bc of the food trash that gets thrown out, attracting rodents (food for these birds). I witnessed this actually occuring one day when I saw a red tailed hawk dive bombing into the grass median, and flying away with something it its beak that seemed to be wiggling. However, the bird educator told us that this was a bad thing, since birds can be hit by cars. She cautioned us not to throw out food, etc. at the intersections (I did not know this was a thing, but I can see how it might be). Of course, that is why birds like to hang about on traffic light infrastructure too. I wonder what they are thinking…probably what those big bugs are, and why they stop and go so much. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-robins-evolved-to-follow-lawn-mowers/1001451/11 "2024-05-13T05:22:06Z")
Not bird related. Nevermind ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-robins-evolved-to-follow-lawn-mowers/1001451/12 "2024-05-13T09:29:04Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Many birds are long-lived and intelligent. I assume it’s learned behavior. Nothing about evolution, except that evolution made them intelligent and long-lived. This. Behaviors can be passed from parent to child through genetic means (instinct), or from parent to child (or from peer to peer) through observation and memory (culture). There are many, many examples of animal culture, including among birds: > **[Animal culture | Innovative foraging](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_culture#Innovative_foraging)** > > In 20th century Britain, bottled milk was delivered to households in the early morning by milkmen and left on doorsteps to be collected. Birds such as tits (Paridae) began to attack the bottles, opening the foil or cardboard lids and drinking the cream of the top. It was later shown that this innovative behavior arose independently in several different sites and spread horizontally (i.e. between living members) in the existing population. Later experimental evidence showed that conformity A sprea... The evolutionary development of complex new behaviors takes considerable time, and lawn mowing hasn’t been around for that long. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-robins-evolved-to-follow-lawn-mowers/1001451/13 "2024-05-13T09:29:43Z")
I’ve heard people refer to robins as ‘the gardeners friend’ as they will follow you around if you’re doing any kind of gardening. Within a few minutes of me being out there I hear their distinctive wing flap as they come to help me. As for mowers, my robins have started sitting on the mower deck rather than just following me. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-robins-evolved-to-follow-lawn-mowers/1001451/14 "2024-05-13T09:34:05Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Quite a few species of birds will follow farm tractors which are mowing or tilling. You also see this with birds following fishing boats. [![](https://web.ub.edu/documents/2710030/4706349/Ausmarines2.jpg_en.jpg/b40e257a-2331-1288-ad87-f5d16d45ada0?t=1677491864673) ](https://web.ub.edu/documents/2710030/4706349/Ausmarines2.jpg_en.jpg/b40e257a-2331-1288-ad87-f5d16d45ada0?t=1677491864673) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-robins-evolved-to-follow-lawn-mowers/1001451/15 "2024-05-13T11:07:28Z")
We now hire a guy with a tractor to mow the horse pastures, but at one point I mowed with our Kubota lawn tractor. It was boring work, but the swallows following me made it enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-robins-evolved-to-follow-lawn-mowers/1001451/16 "2024-05-13T15:02:04Z")
One of my most striking memories was mowing my back lawn, stirring up a great number of small flying insects, and finding myself in the center of a whorl of half a dozen barn swallows orbiting around me and claiming all the bugs on the wing. Also, birds naturally follow and scavenge behind large herbivore wildlife or livestock as they graze, so it isn’t a big jump to treating a mower or a tractor as a loud cow or wildebeest. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-robins-evolved-to-follow-lawn-mowers/1001451/17 "2024-05-13T15:13:24Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > The evolutionary development of complex new behaviors takes considerable time, and lawn mowing hasn’t been around for that long. Probably not a genetic change yet. Robins are somewhat migratory though. Like some other birds man made changes to food sources and climate could cause a genetic shift that eventually affects survivability. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-robins-evolved-to-follow-lawn-mowers/1001451/18 "2024-05-13T19:23:57Z")
Good timing, I also noticed the birds seemingly attracted to my freshly mowed grass this week. Robins and sparrows bravely swooped down to get in a few pecks before I rumbled past again with my noisy, rattling smoking grub conjuring machine. I assume there’s an odor of broken leaves or overturned soil that tips them off. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-robins-evolved-to-follow-lawn-mowers/1001451/19 "2024-05-13T19:40:12Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Also, birds naturally follow and scavenge behind large herbivore wildlife or livestock as they graze, so it isn’t a big jump to treating a mower or a tractor as a loud cow or wildebeest. This is mine understanding as well. Mowers are just another large grazer, from the birds’ points of view. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-robins-evolved-to-follow-lawn-mowers/1001451/20 "2024-05-14T01:06:24Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > It sometimes feels like you’re in the middle of a WWII dogfight, but they always avoid collisions. Swallows and their cousins the swifts are amazing at that. I’ve literally had one fly through the wheel of my bicycle, while I was riding it. But it looks more like a Korean or Vietnam war dogfight, since swallows are shaped like little jet fighters.