I haven’t seen a robin in several months and today I look out the window and there are about thirty of them in the hawthorns, eating berries. Now I realize that, contrary to popular belief, robins are here (I’m in New England) all year 'round, hiding out in trees in the swamps – so don’t bother pointing that out. What I’m curious to know is, why now? These berries have been ripe since fall; why didn’t the robins eat them in December? Or alternatively, why don’t they wait till spring to leave off their lazy branch potato ways?
Are you absolutely sure they’re robins? The flocking behavior is unusual; I’d suggest they’re waxwings or even starlings.
Yeah, I’m sure. They’re just about four yards away: the American robin, Turdus migratorius.
Yeah, I’m sure. They’re just about four yards away: the American robin, Turdus migratorius.
I’m surprised indeed as I always thought that male robins were extremely aggressive to each other.
Maybe this only happens during the mating season when they get territorial.
Although they are mostly territorial and insectivorous in the summer, in the winter Robins gather in large flocks and feed mostly on fruit. My guess is the local flock, in its wanderings, just didn’t happen to stumble on your personal hawthorn tree before now. If they don’t eat the berries now, they will be back later. (And they may move off before they eat everything just to keep predators from keying in on them.)
From this site:
And lissener, give scratch a break! You would have to be a complete Dodo to mistake a Robin for a Starling or even a Waxwing!
… Or maybe it only happens with English robins, which are totally different from the American variety.
Whoops, meant that as a response to casdave’s post, in case it isn’t clear. Damn this slow computer.
I think you are right Fretful
Our Robin is called the European Robin.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/wildfacts/garden_birds/fact_files/253.shtml
http://www.birdsofbritain.co.uk/bird-guide/robin.htm
(nice link that last)
If you look you will see it mentioned that both male and female are territorial, in fact so aggressive are they that Robins are the major cause of death of other Robins.
Years ago I remember Robins being classified as being part of the thrush family Thruscadae including the Blackbird Turdus Merula but maybe I was wrong or it was reclassified - it was well over 20 years ago.
From what I can tell the American Robin is very differant to ours.
The American Robin is indeed a thrush.
The robins may be eating the berries now because they may be migrating ones. I used to live in Illinois and there would be some robins year round, contrary to popular belief, as you pointed out in New England. However, there is no way of telling if them’s the same robins that were there in the summer. My guess is that you have a flock that is new to the area, flying thru, and needing fuel (of course) are munching on the berries.
Sometimes the European Robin Erithracus rubecula (of course, called “The Robin” in Merrie Olde England) has been classified as an Old World Flycatcher (Family Muscicapidae, unrelated to the New World Flycatchers, Family Tyrannidae), and sometimes as a Thrush (Family Turdidae), while the American Robin Turdus migratorius has always been classified as a Thrush. However, these two families are so closely related that they have frequently been merged (along with Old World Warblers), although the combined family is usually called Muscicapidae.
Due to recent advances in genetic analysis, the whole field of bird classification is presently in a state of flux. Suffice it to say that the European and American Robins, while not terribly closely related, may or may not be in the same family, depending on who’s doing the classification and on what day of the week it happens to be.
And the Australian Robins (Family Petroicidae, at least for today) turn out to be something else entirely.
And let’s not get started on all the possible different types of warblers, flycatchers, etc. . .