Robins back, but the truth is they never left

Guess what – robins are back!

I had two in my yard last week. Birders are spotting large flocks of robins in coastal Maine and in southern Maine.

Actually, the honest truth is that robins are here, in the Bangor area, all year. Most people overlook robins in winter. Then, when they are surprised to see a robin in winter, they wonder how the robin could eat, with the ground frozen or covered with snow, and earthworms hidden deep underground.

In winter, robins eat winter-berries, high bush cranberries and crab apples.

At the time of the Audubon Christmas Counts, Dec. 14-Jan. 4, birders watch carefully for robins. Birders know that robins are around, but they can be overlooked. Christmas Counters are determined to find robins, and a few counters find them every year. Some years, only one or two robins are found; other years, several hundred are found.

The robins that spend the winter in Maine are from Newfoundland and northern Labrador. They are a subspecies of robin that are very hardy, and the winter flocks are mostly males. Their heads, nape and part of the back have more black than the robins that nest in our area. The breast is of a more rich, darker, more saturated red-orange. You have to look carefully to see the difference.

Robin males – like most other migrant birds – winter farther north than the females do. The males go north first and stake out the best territory. Then the females choose their mate partly based on the quality of the territory, and partly based on the male’s song.

The females prefer older mates, which sing a more complex song. That is not always discernable by the human ear, but visible in a sonogram – and discernable by the female robin.

Many people think robins find earthworms by hearing. It looks that way as they cock their head, then pick a worm out of the ground. But they see the worm. A scientist did a number of experiments with robins in cages and it was conclusive that robins find worms not by hearing, nor by smell, but by eyesight.

When flocks of robins arrive, they look for south-facing hillsides, where the snow has melted. The sun’s rays are stronger now. The rays of the sun can warm a fallen leaf or twig so that it melts into the snow or ice.

When robins arrive, whether they have spent the winter here, or have just arrived, it is a joyful event. Whether it is cold or warm now, spring is coming!

For information on Fields Pond Audubon Center, call 989-2591.