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FINAL Robin Migration Update: May 14, 2002
Today's Report Includes:
- Migration Update: At the Top!
- Robin of a Different Color: Link to Lesson
- Busting Out: Robin Cam Video
- Diaper Disposal: Discussion of Challenge Question #29
- Toddling About: Discussion of Challenge Question #30
- Bedtime for Babies: Discussion of Challenge Question #31
- Year-end Evaluation: Please Share Your Thoughts!
Migration Update: At the Top!
After a long, cold spring, a few robins are finally back in the far northern extremes of their range, though with the recent cold weather, we're still waiting for them to arrive at some of our Northern Observation Posts. On May 13, one lone robin turned up in Norman Wells, in Canada's Northwest Territories. Jean Hogg said he was "one poor little lone robin singing his heart out calling for his friends to come on over!" Kevin Fitzgerald, in Talkeetna, Alaska, saw his first robin on May 12, and writes that it was "very late spring this year. One hundred percent snow cover until the last several days. Very warm now and expect the late spring to catch up over the next several weeks." There will be a lot more robins arriving north at our Northern Observation Posts , but most robins have finally reached the finish line!
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How did YOUR predictions about the first robin seen and the first robin song in the Northern Observation Posts compare with what really happened?
Robin of a Different Color
Cal Oberg in Forest Grove,
Oregon, spotted an albino robin near its nest on May 9. Albinos are certainly one of the most interesting oddities
in the world of birds. Ornithologists have calculated that only about half of one percent of all birds are complete
albinos, so spotting one is a rare event. To learn more about these unique and lovely birds, see
Busting Out! Robin Nest Cam Videos
This week's Upland Hills School Nest Cam video clips show the babies outgrowing the nest.
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As you watch the video clips, notice all these things:
- In the first clip, which baby seems closest to leaving the nest? How does the biggest, strongest baby have an advantage at feeding time?
- In the second clip, one of the babies is preening. What are the other two doing? The preening nestling is also shaking its wings. This shakes off little bits of the feather sheath that are flaking off as each feather opens up. Notice how the feather itchiness and instinct to preen lead to the baby exercising its wings for flight.
- In the third clip, one of the babies has fledged, and there are only two nestlings remaining. (Karin Nanos assured us that she and her students saw the parents feeding the fledgling, so are sure it survived.) Notice how they both have more wiggle room now that they have the nest to themselves.
- In the fourth clip, notice how much attention they are paying to their wing and tail feathers as they preen. These are the feathers that grow the longest. Birds seem to be itchy where new feathers are growing in. Preening probably feels good!
- In the fifth clip, why do you suppose the parent robin is sitting on top of the two babies? Notice how the babies' and mother's beaks are wide open: this is what birds do when they're overheated. It looks very sunny out, too. We think the mother must be trying to shade her babies to keep them from getting too hot!
- In the sixth clip, watch how one baby ends up out of the nest. Does it look like it jumped out on purpose? What do you think will happen next?
- In the seventh clip, notice how the baby still inside the nest seems to be trying to leave the nest. Both nestlings have been exercising their wings. Do you think they need practice before they can hop and walk?
- The eighth clip is our favorite one! Do you think the baby who fledged was leaving on purpose? What do you think its brother or sister was thinking when it saw it leave?
Diaper Disposal: Discussion of Challenge Question #29:
Last time we asked you to "Think of at least three advantages of parent birds eating fecal sacs of very young babies. Why do you think they usually stop eating them after the babies get older?"
We could think of a few advantages:
- Very young babies don't digest much of their food yet. Their fecal sacs have a lot of nutritious food which would be a waste to throw away, especially when the parents are feeding their babies most of the food they find.
- Eating fecal sacs on the spot saves parents the time and energy it would take to carry them away.
- Fecal sacs are white, which is noticeable when parents carry them from the nest. Eating the white fecal sacs makes it harder for nest predators to notice.
We suspect that the reason they stop eating fecal sacs as the babies get older is that bacteria growing in the
babies' intestines starts making their feces germy.
Toddling About: Discussion of Challenge Question #30
We also asked, "Why do robins leave their safe nest before they can fly and when there are so many dangers outside the nest?"
Watching the video clips, it's obvious that one reason is that the nest gets so crowded! The parents would waste a lot of energy making the nest big enough to hold three or four nestlings for several days longer. Also, a bigger nest would waste a lot of the mother's body heat when she was incubating eggs or brooding nestlings.
Another reason is that baby robins go through an important stage of development similar to human toddlers, when
it's easy for them to learn many things and get practice coordinating their bodies. If they're stuck in the nest
for too long during this period, it can stunt their intelligence and their growth--similar to keeping a human child
in a tiny crib all the time after the child can walk.
Bedtime for Babies: Discussion of Challenge Question #31
Last time we asked, "Will the baby robins return to their nest? Where else might they sleep?"
Once baby robins leave the nest, they don't go back. They observe how their parents find a safe, protected branch to sleep on, and that's where the babies go, too. This is like when a baby grows out of his or her crib and moves into a regular bed.
Year-End Evaluation: Please Share Your Thoughts!
Please take a few minutes to share your suggestions and comments in our Year-End Evaluation Form. The information you provide at the end of each year is the single most important tool used to guide our planning.
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Journey North |
This is the FINAL Robin Migration Update. We look forward to welcoming you and the robins back next spring!
Copyright 2002 Journey North. All Rights Reserved.
Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form
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