American Robin Migration Update:
May 9, 2006
Today's"Data Only" Report Includes:
American
Robin Migration Maps and Data
First Robins
Seen |
Waves
of Robins |
First Robins Heard Singing* |
|
|
|
(map)
|
(map)
|
(map)
(data)
*Recommended for mapping |
How
is survival for the people of Innoko River , Alaska dependent
on the migrations? Students at Shageluk's Innoko
River School tell
you in this week's letter.
|
Who's
Still Waiting? News from the Northern Observation Posts
From Florida to Alaska and California to Nova Scotia, robins are
home. They're hunkering down to the serious business of making
new little robins. In St Sauveur des Monts, PQ, robins are busy
building nests. In Homer, Alaska, they are singing every morning
and evening and sometimes during the day. And in Anchorage,
Alaska, Mike Sterling reports: “The
waves of robins are here, as are the raptors, seabirds, and—on
Thursday—the WORMS! I always consider spring to have sprung
when a rainstorm forces the worms out onto the pavement where
all the hungry robins can feast.”
As we finish our reporting season, only a few Northern Observation
Posts are still awaiting their first robins, and all of them are
celebrating spring. See all the latest comments and check
the 2006 Prediction Log one more time:
How
Does 2006 Compare?
Did
robins arrive at the end of the trail earlier or later than
last year? |
First
Robins SEEN
May 2006
|
First
Robins SEEN
May 2005
|
1.
Compare arrival dates. |
|
|
2.
Compare spring temperatures. Do you notice any connection between
average temps and arrival dates?
Click on maps to start animations.>>
|
|
|
Robins
Heading North?
The folks in Baker Lake village in the province of Nunavut are hoping
to see robins in 2006. In reporting their first robin last year, teacher
Orin Durey told why this was unusual: “We're at 64.2°N 96.05°W
and saw robins here for the first time ever in 2005.”
It’s so unusual that Inuit don't even have a word for this bird.
In the Inuit language Inuktitut, a robin is known simply as the bird
with
the red breast. Villagers are still waiting to see if robins will be
back in 2006. In the meantime, here's what we wonder:
Robins
only began nesting in the high arctic for the first time in
the late 1990s. Why do you think robins are migrating and nesting
farther north than ever before?
Watch this animation and look
for clues to this puzzling question. >>
|
Meteorological
Service of Canada
|
|
Photo
Laura Erickson
|
The Advantages of Long Summer Days
You know that breeding animals need to feed themselves AND their babies,
so finding food is serious business. Fred Charles found that Illinois
robins put in 15.5 hours a day feeding young in late May, bringing an
average of 356 pieces of food daily!
The northernmost robins arrive at a later date than their Illinois cousins,
but they will still have plenty of time for their parental duties. How
might the long days in northern regions benefit birds that migrate there?
What disadvantages can you list for robins going the farthest north?
How Many Days to Hatching?
This
robin built a nest in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 4 and
5. She laid her first egg on May 8. If she lays one egg a
day for the next 3 days, when will her babies hatch? When
will they fledge?
HINT: She will start to incubate the eggs on the same day
she lays her fourth and final egg. She will incubate
the eggs for an average of 13 days, so the babies
should hatch on __________ (date). The babies will remain nestlings for an
average of 12 days, so they should fledge on ________
(date).
|
Mama
Robin starts to incubate on the day she lays her 4th egg.
Photo
Wayne Kryduba |
|
Photo
Heather Ray
|
Nest
Numbers:
Discussion of Challenge Question #7
After you looked at A Robin’s Spring Mission, we
asked you to answer this: “If a lucky robin lives for 12 years
and builds nests each summer except her first, how many nests might
she build in her lifetime? What 3 things make her old nest unsafe for
babies?” Did you figure correctly? See the discussion here:
Year-End
Evaluation: Please Share Your Thoughts! |
Please
take a few minutes to share your suggestions and comments in
our Year-End Evaluation. The information you provide is critical
for planning new initiatives and for improving Journey North.
Also, as a free program supported by a generous grant from Annenberg
Media, we want to be able to document Journey North's reach,
impact and value. THANK YOU! |
|
Journey
North
Year End Evaluation
Please share
your thoughts! |
This is the FINAL Robin
Migration Update for Journey North 2006. Thanks to everyone
who shared observations to build a picture of the Robin's spring migration,
and
hats off to everyone who will watch their robins with a caring eye this
summer!
Copyright
1997- 2006 Journey North. All Rights Reserved.
Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback
form.
|