Where Do Your Robins Go for the Winter?
Analyzing Banding Data from US Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Migratory Bird Management

Nobody has ever flown along with a robin, so how do we know where they go? We contacted Alan Davenport of the USFWS Office of Migratory Bird Management in hopes of learning what banding data show about robin migration. Mr. Davenport has graciously supplied hundreds of REAL BANDING records for you! These records have been collected during the past 60 years.

Because we're interested in migration patterns, he selected records from birds that were:

  • BANDED during breeding season (May - July)
  • RECOVERED during winter months (December - January)

Where do YOUR Robins go for the winter?

  1. Find your state or province in the proper flyway. Link to the banding records for your robins, identify each location, and complete the data sheet.
  2. Next, respond to these Discussion Questions to help you analyze and make sense of the data.

Atlantic Flyway

Central Flyway
Mississippi Flyway
Pacific Flyway
Canadian Provinces

 


National Science Education Standards
(See bottom of Discussion Questions page.)