Your Sightings! >>
Today's Report Includes:
- The Migration: Maps and Highlights
- You Be the Expert: Locals or Migrants?
- Scientists Investigate: Any Worms for Rocky Mountain Early Robins?
- Journal: What About YOUR Territory?
Predict: When will the first robin of spring arrive
in our Northern Observation Post (NOP) at Shageluk, Alaska? Data >>
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Spring is on the calendar and in the air — and so are the robins! While distribution hasn't changed a great deal in the past week, abundance has. Do you see the clusters of dots are starting fill in more solidly across the continent? Where do you see robins this week where none were seen before? Last week's heavy rains over the Great Plains, Midwest, Texas, and parts of New Mexico forced many birds to land, but by the weekend the winds shifted around to help the birds northward again. From Rutland, Massachusetts, an observer wrote, "Evidently they flew in with the winds. I hope they will be able to find food sources. There is still a bit of snow all over, and it is very cold and windy." On the opposite coast, students at Whidbey Primary School in Langely, Washington, have seen and heard robins galore. Robins by the dozens were reported in Hyrum, Utah this week. "Seems a little early, but they are singing and setting up territory." Read more about territories in today's report. Here we go!
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Thanks
for remembering to report your
robins! It takes everyone's help to paint the picture of migration
2008. |
Waves of robins are on the move, delighting observers in the northern tier of states into Ontario. Here's one report, with a good question we think you can answer:
"At first they looked a lot like kids playing on a jungle gym in those trees. Ten of them or more would be hoping from branch to branch, tree to tree, running on the ground, eating berries, socializing, and chasing each other. They were very hyper. No territories seemed to be established yet. One thing I'm not sure about: "Are these robins migrants, or locals hunkering in the valley — or both?"
Photo K. DeMusey
Robins migrate northward in the spring — or do they? Some migrate “upward” instead! But it takes a while for spring to "climb" a mountain! A group of scientists in a mountain lab wondered about robins that came there to breed. They knew that 20 years earlier, the birds arrived around April 4th. But they thought the robins were showing up earlier. What could be the advantages of robins arriving on breeding grounds earlier than usual? What could be the disadvantages? Find out here:
- Rocky Mountain Robins: The Early Bird Has No Worms! >>
Several students at Byram Lakes School in Stanhope, New Jersey have heard the robin's song in the past 12 days. (See their comments.) What weather conditions do the students describe for their singing robins?
A male’s first job in spring is to find a territory. Somewhere out there, a robin might be heading right for your backyard, thinking he owns it. What do you think a robin wants in his territory? What doesn’t he want? Why is a claiming and defending a good territory so important to a male robin? What survival strategies do female robins use? Look for the answers in this week's nonfiction feature. >>
After thinking about robins claiming their spring territory, give this question some thought:
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If you were moving to a new neighborhood, what things would you like your new neighborhood to have? What things would be most important to your parents?
Write your thoughts in your Robin Migration Journal. >>
- Listen and Discern: Do You Hear a Robin or a Cardinal? >>
- View: New Kids on the Block: Claiming a Territory >>
- Contribute: Report Your Robin Sightings >>
- Observe (Print Checklist): Spring Phenology of Robins >>
- Practice: Play Name That Tune >>
- Help: Unpave the Way for Robins >>
- Wonder: Waiting for Buddy: Tale of a Returning Robin >>
- Analyze: Analyzing Weather and Robin Migration >>
The Next American Robin Migration Update Will Be Posted on *April 1, 2008 (*data only).
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