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| Robin with a worm perched on a tree. |
Each spring people await the arrival of "the first robin." People who live in the Midwest may rightly feel they know this bird well for it sets up housekeeping in the shade trees that line the streets and grow in the parks. However, the first robin of the spring, whose arrival is regularly recorded on the front page of the city newspaper, is somewhat of a fraud, for it has probably been wintering nearby in one of the forest preserves or suburban orchards, and is moving into the city prior to a take-off for its summer home farther to the north.
If one searches diligently, robins may be seen every month of the year, although the smallest number are found in December and January. By the first of March the number has increased, for not only are winter residents present but early spring migrants from farther south have added their presence. Most of these robins nest farther north. By the first of April the robins which are Chicago summer residents have taken over the lawns and parks and begun looking over the housing situation. The location of the nest is not a difficult problem. Usually a tree suffices, but robins have been known to build in all sorts of odd places.
A robin's food is 42 per cent animal, principally insects, and 58 per cent vegetable, chiefly wild fruit. The robin on the lawn hunting for worms is also seeking the grass-destroying grubs of the May beetle. It is not known whether the robin hears the grub and earthworm or sees a movement of the leaves, but when the robin's bill goes down into the lawn it usually comes up with a catch of grub or worm as the case may be.
Parent robins are generally regarded as perfect parents. Usually the female builds the nest without much aid and incubates the eggs for about two weeks but as soon as the young are hatched the male gives its full share of assistance. It brings food and helps clean the nest. Young birds of the earlier broods and males spend the night at community roosts, which increase in population until migration begins in September.
In the south, robins have no particular home. They gather in enormous flocks wherever food is plentiful. At one time robins were killed at the southern roosting places and sold for food in the markets of southern cities. In fact they were classified as game birds in several southern states until the Federal Migratory Bird Law of 1914 forbade the killing of migratory song birds.
The early settlers of our country saw a bird that reminded them of the English robin redbreast. This new acquaintance they named after the little English bird and so the larger migratory thrush of the new world was named after a warbler from the old world half its size.
Our robins are the largest of the thrush family, a group renowned for their sweet songs. The American robin is particularly famous for the habit of singing in the rain and at evening time.
Our Eastern robin is one of five varieties of the migratory thrush‚ four of these thrushes live in the United States and one is Mexican. Pabst.
If one searches diligently, robins may be seen every month of the year, although the smallest number are found in December and January. By the first of March the number has increased, for not only are winter residents present but early spring migrants from farther south have added their presence. Most of these robins nest farther north. By the first of April the robins which are Chicago summer residents have taken over the lawns and parks and begun looking over the housing situation. The location of the nest is not a difficult problem. Usually a tree suffices, but robins have been known to build in all sorts of odd places.
A robin's food is 42 per cent animal, principally insects, and 58 per cent vegetable, chiefly wild fruit. The robin on the lawn hunting for worms is also seeking the grass-destroying grubs of the May beetle. It is not known whether the robin hears the grub and earthworm or sees a movement of the leaves, but when the robin's bill goes down into the lawn it usually comes up with a catch of grub or worm as the case may be.
Parent robins are generally regarded as perfect parents. Usually the female builds the nest without much aid and incubates the eggs for about two weeks but as soon as the young are hatched the male gives its full share of assistance. It brings food and helps clean the nest. Young birds of the earlier broods and males spend the night at community roosts, which increase in population until migration begins in September.
In the south, robins have no particular home. They gather in enormous flocks wherever food is plentiful. At one time robins were killed at the southern roosting places and sold for food in the markets of southern cities. In fact they were classified as game birds in several southern states until the Federal Migratory Bird Law of 1914 forbade the killing of migratory song birds.
The early settlers of our country saw a bird that reminded them of the English robin redbreast. This new acquaintance they named after the little English bird and so the larger migratory thrush of the new world was named after a warbler from the old world half its size.
Our robins are the largest of the thrush family, a group renowned for their sweet songs. The American robin is particularly famous for the habit of singing in the rain and at evening time.
Our Eastern robin is one of five varieties of the migratory thrush‚ four of these thrushes live in the United States and one is Mexican. Pabst.
Robin sings passionately by Paul Dinning Wildlife.
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