Birds of the Western Slope February 6, 2013

American Robin

The countryside is in shades of grays and tans, but a bit more white than I like. I do wish the snow would melt and give its moisture to our thirsty fields!

And it seems there's nothing much to see today.

Wait! What was that? A bird just flashed across the road! Of course we slow down. There's movement in the field to our right ... more birds. Now they all take flight and cross the road in front of us. Robins! But they're early, too early! Our area is in the grips of freezing temperatures and it's only the first of February. I think you should have gone south, but then, what do I know! As the birds fly, the white of the underwing is obvious and there's a considerable amount of white in the plumage — white under the tails, white chins striped with black, and white eye rings.

Our birds land in the field to our left, and begin foraging. Apparently the ground is softer at the edge of the snow patches so maybe they can dig up something to eat. I sure hope so.

Although our robins nest at tundra's edge and winter into Bermuda and Guatemala, many are residents within the United States. Now I've learned of another "robin." In England, there's a small brown bird known as "robin." It's less than six inches long, with an orange/red face and chest, a white belly and belongs to the bird group known as "wheatears." When the settlers came to this continent, the name was apparently transferred to our native bird with the brick-red breast and belly. But our bird is of a totally different family and lifestyle, being related to the Eurasian Blackbird or Black Robin. Here the scientific names help sort out the confusion: Latin "turdus" means "thrush." Our robin is Turdus migratorius, from his broad range, while the black robin is designated Turdus merula, dark. There are four more European species of Turdus that are occasionally seen on our continent.

In his book, "The American Robin," Robert Wauer describes the birds' expansion into areas being settled. They were welcomed by the settlers as friendly, cheerful birds as well as insect eaters. And the birds found a new and favored food, earthworms. Wauer states that when the prairie sod was plowed there were no such worms and they were apparently introduced through the potted plants and shrubs. Now this bird, previously found only in open areas within forest and woodlands, is our most common bird.

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