The Winter Robin – A Survival Story

I grew up in Michigan where the Robin was the state bird. It was also widely considered the first sign of spring because they typically fled to warmer parts to make it through winter. As an aside, that did lead to some people suggesting we should replace the Robin with the Chickadee because the Chickadees stay through the winter and who wants a state bird that doesn’t reside in your state for part of the year. But that never went anywhere – the Robin lobby was stronger I guess.

Well I no longer live in Michigan and have discovered that the Robins around here don’t vacate during the winter. I’m sure some do but there are those that decide winters aren’t that bad or maybe they just don’t feel like flying south so they try and make it through our winters.

A little bird background is required. Robins main diet is bugs and fruit and they prefer to eat on the ground although they’ll certainly perch on branches to eat berries from various trees and shrubs. Most bird feeders are designed for birds that can perch on them (like the Chickadee). Now I do have a feeder that uses a seed cylinder and a few of the Robins have learned land on top of the cylinder where they can pick out what they like. But, in general, bird feeders are of no use to them so they are dependent on the things the other birds drop on the ground under the feeders. They do find bugs if they can push around the top layer of leaves that you’ll find in most wooded areas.

Of course, that only works if there is no snow. Back in January, we got hit by a couple of big snowstorms so there was 7-8 inches on the ground and there was no way the Robin was getting down to the ground to find bugs. Then it turned super cold for a couple of days. Birds have to eat a significant amount of food in cold conditions to stay warm and keep their energy up. I know this because the birds that were able to use the feeders were devouring the seed at a very quick rate requiring multiple trips to refill feeders during the day.

And then we noticed one Robin who was obviously questioning his choice to remain behind. He landed on the deck because I had shoveled it to get to the feeders and was just sadly waiting for the few crumbs that the other birds dropped.

This is a case where nature seems cruel but nature is ambivalent. This was just that year where we got the combination of heavy snow followed by Arctic cold that kept the snow from melting. The Robin that was trying to overwinter just hit a patch of bad luck.

But he was also in the right place because there was no way we were just going to sit there and watch him freeze. Read that they’ll eat raisins and we bought a big bag of raisins and I tossed a handful on the deck for him. Took a day or so but then he started showing up right at sunrise squawking like crazy as if he was demanding his breakfast. Also ended up feeling strong enough to start chasing other birds away from “his” raisins.

We did get some warmer temperatures and so he stopped waiting at sunrise because he had other options. Didn’t stop him from coming by a few times during the day to see the raisins would appear. Yes, we’ve been tossing out handfuls from time to time to keep him going. Some days when I go out to fill the bird bath, he’ll fly in to a nearby tree and start squawking at me just to remind me that he’d still like some raisins.

Eventually, spring will come and then he’ll be on his own. For now, we have no problem helping him out even though that probably ensures he’ll try to tough out winters from now on.

(Note: No this is not a return to blogging. I may have another story to tell but, for now, I’m still in my semi-retirement. Had kind of forgot about this until I got some random notification from people who stumbled across older posts. That kind of triggered a thought to do this)