Each fall and spring, the robins hold their Semi-Annual National Robins’ Convention in the Brewer’s backyard – or so it seems. They come in huge numbers and show up at almost exactly the same time. The reason I know they are having a convention is that they wear funny little hats and have name tags on their otherwise “red breasts.”
Well, not really, but we had a gang of robins in our yard last week. All of them.
This past spring, we had about three robin families in or near our yard. I watched them collect worms and bugs and fly to their nests.
Then, around August, they disappeared – I didn’t see a robin for weeks, until last week when they all came back. Two things seemingly attract robins to our yard. Birdbaths and leaves.
Robins love birdbaths. They splash and preen and totally immerse themselves in the baths. They rarely pay attention to the humans who may be nearby. They just love to take baths.
Robins also love to rummage beneath the leaves which have fallen from our half dozen or so maple trees, for beneath the leaves are lots of juicy worms, grubs and insects.
Robins are migratory songbirds, but last winter we had one robin that remained in our yard – even during the snowstorm. He or she fed on the sunflower hearts I put in my feeder for the bluebirds. It’s unusual for a robin to come to an above ground feeder, but they do what they have to do to survive. But as a rule, they will pick up and move to more suitable climates as the need arises.
These common, cheerful birds prefer insects and worms, but they also enjoy berries. We have one blueberry vine in our yard that the robins have claimed for themselves. In ten years, I haven’t had the first blueberry from that vine.
Robins are fairly territorial and will defend their turf vigorously against other robin intruders – except when they hold their Semi-Annual Robin’s Convention in the Brewer’s back yard.
Then, they get along just fine.