Date: 01/23/1999

Number: 1

01/23/99
The Globe and Mail
Metro
Page D11
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"Many thousands of robins are wintering, compared with only a few in scant-berry years. One phenomenal robin roost on Montreal Island was down to 1,323 birds Monday, from a peak of 1,537.
This beats Toronto's recent local record of 1,467 on a Christmas bird count. Mabel Macintosh counts the Montreal birds as they cross a road to sleep together in cedar woods in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue. By day, they scatter to feed on berries of buckthorn, mountain ash and the like. The site falls between Christmas-count circles, and missed formal tallying. "They fly in toward dusk, flock after flock. Ninety to 95 per cent are
males, with bright red breasts and dark heads." These are probably robins from farther north; males brave the cold for short,early flights to be first on nesting territories that
stretch to the Arctic tree line. The site is a traditional robin

Montreal, QC

Latitude: 45.5 Longitude: -73.7

Observed by:
Contact Observer

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