The Birders Report

American Robin Foraging photo by Larry Jordan

The American Robin is the most widespread thrush in North America and is the state bird of Connecticut, Michigan and Wisconsin.  Even so, we only counted 1806 of them on our Christmas Bird Count in Redding, California yesterday.  That number was down from last year’s count of 2286.

This time of year in California, the American Robin travels in small flocks during the day, foraging for worms, grubs and other invertebrates in the morning and fruits and berries later in the day.  At night they can form huge flocks of thousands of individuals to go to roost in trees.

According to the data gathered by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, they tend to avoid areas with snow cover as the snow would make it more difficult to find food for these ground foraging birds.  As you can see from my photo, the snow is melting here but we have still had quite a few American Robins hanging around our feeders.

American Robins migrate southward from their Canadian breeding grounds but many stay in the U.S. for the winter.  Some birds fly down to the warmth of Mexico for winter and return in early spring, being one of the first birds to nest and lay pretty blue eggs.

Many people look forward to seeing their first Robin in the spring.  I know it always makes me feel like summer is right around the corner.  But I also enjoy seeing them this time of year knowing that the weather is not too severe and I will be enjoying their company in larger numbers soon.

Make sure to visit the other Camera Critters photos and have a great weekend!

A Bushtit Foraging In An Oak Tree On Christmas Morning by Larry Jordan

When I went out this beautiful Christmas morning, I had an oak tree just teaming with hungry Bushtits.  This is one of the shots I captured with my new Nikon D90.

Make sure you check out the other Skywatch Friday photos!  And have a Joyous Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah.

May the Peace, Joy and Happiness of Christmas be with you every day.