| Robins are
year-round presence in Piney Woods By
Jay V. Huner Everyone knows our American Robin, a medium-sized songbird with dark brown to black back and wings and striking reddish-orange breast. Broken white rings surround their eyes. Seen most often in the winter, robins have a nesting presence throughout our Piney Woods region. To find them you just have to look for them and, if you learn the song and call, listen in proper habitat. Robins are classified as thrushes. They were named by early English settlers in North America after the familiar English "Robin Redbreast" because robins reminded them of their familiar homeland bird. The European robin is about half the size of our American Robin and only the male has a red breast, not reddish-orange. In fact, the American Robin belongs to the same family as the European Blackbird which looks like a black robin in shape and size and has a similar song! Watch for robins around well-tended lawns with large trees similar and often nest in and around court houses in our region. Robins feed extensively on earth worms and such lawns often have good worm populations. If you have the time, watch feeding robins closely and you will see one grab a worm and slowly pull it from its burrow. Earthworms have small hairs called setae on each segment. When you or a robin tries to pull a worm from its burrow, it holds on with the setae. So, one has to pull firmly until the worm loses its grip and can be extracted intact. My wife is an amateur genealogist. I found a good many robins at the court house in Arcadia, Louisiana in June 2008 while my wife was looking up ancestors in the clerk of court's office. We also have at least three pairs of nesting robins in our mixed pine-hardwood neighborhood on the east side of Cotile Lake in Rapides Parish. All songbirds feed their hatchlings with worms and insects because they need the animal protein and fatty acids for growth and development. Females also need to eat such food before they nest so that eggs can be properly formed. But, once the breeding and nesting seasons are over, the birds can feed on energy rich berries and other vegetable food sources. Migratory robins arrive in our region in mid-fall but unless you are out in the countryside, you probably won't see too many then because they are feeding on berries, especially those of hackberry trees in swampy areas. They begin to come into populated areas in mid-winter and will feed on berries often found on ornamental trees and shrubs. Do you curse poison ivy vines because they make you itch? Well, their white berries are important winter foods for songbirds like robins. And, mistletoe berries attract many birds in winter. In early spring, robins and other songbirds will feed extensively on tree blossoms and catkins. American Robins are famous for their spring breeding songs and folks "up North" know winter is over when the first robins appear in bare branches and sing. I have to admit, though that until the last couple of years when robins started breeding in our neighborhood, I didn't know what they sounded like. While a good birder can find robins year round in our region, they are hardly common in spring and summer and I had never encountered breeding robins. Well, the song is described as whistled phrases of two or three syllables sounding like cheerily, cheery cheerily cheery, with pauses. I notice them, more often, when they make what is called a whinny call described as a shrill kli ki ki ki ki. For those familiar with the calls of Red-bellied Woodpeckers, the robin whinny call is similar but harsher. So, fire up a computer and Google American Robin to check out the bird's various songs and calls. Robins typically nest in shrubs and trees from eye level to 10-12 feet about the ground. But, they will sometimes build their nests in protected places around homes. The nest of grasses and twigs are held together by dried mud. So, if you see robins eating mud in the spring, watch where they are flying as you will surely find that they are using the mud to construct a nest. You will know if a nest is successful if you see motley looking young robins with brown speckled breasts and short tails following their parents around begging for food. Late season dove hunters can sometimes be fooled by robins flying toward them out of the sun. They should take care to identify their targets as robins are classified as migratory songbirds and are protected by federal and state statutes. Prior to the time that robins were granted such protection, many wound up in gumbo pots every winter. Are they tasty? Well, ask some of the old timers the next time you are in the country! I personally don't know. Jay V. Huner; Louisiana Ecrevisse |