Record number of American Robins on 2016 CBC

Nature Notes for December 30, 2016

“Why are there so many robins around? Don’t they go south in the winter?”

“I have many robins around my yard. Is there something I can put on my bird feeder for them? They must be having difficulty finding food in the snow.”

In the past couple of weeks, I have been asked variations on this theme by a number of people from all over the area.

Not all American Robins go south in the winter. There are usually a few found on the Port Hope-Cobourg Christmas Bird Count, which this year was held on December 17. The tally of robins on the count was 3,409, almost three times the previous high of 1,193, counted in 1998. It was not people’s imaginations. They were everywhere.

An American Robin feeding on some the abundant fruit, such as is available this winter.

photo © Rob Lonsberry Photography

The most likely explanation for these record high numbers is an abundant fruit crop. Despite last summer’s drought, many fruit bearing plants had a good crop. The wild grape especially had a bumper crop. Several trees and shrubs, including mountain ash, flowering crab trees and European buckthorn also had a lot of fruit.

When robins are raising young in the spring and summer, they feed mostly on insects, earthworms and some snails. However, robins also eat a large variety of fruit. In addition to the plants mentioned above, they eat juniper berries, chokecherries, hawthorn, dogwood berries and sumac fruit.

In the non-breeding season, American Robins gather in large flocks to search out the fruit supply. They will swoop into a fruit laden mountain ash tree and feed furiously until the fruit is all gone. They are sometimes joined by other fruit eating birds such as Cedar Waxwings, European Starlings, Eastern Bluebirds, and Bohemian Waxwings.

Ground feeding flocks could be found on the day of the Christmas Count along the sides of roads where the snow plows had scraped the snow away. The birds were searching for any insects that might be present, as well as fallen fruit.

They will survive the cold weather as long as fruit is available to them. A few years ago, there were many fruit eating species around until a late April ice storm locked up the fruit for several days. After that date the fruit eaters were decidedly less common. If they had not had the energy to leave, they probably died of starvation.

Although robins do not usually visit bird feeders, they can sometimes be attracted to dried fruit such as raisins and currents.

Several other species were counted in recorded numbers on the Christmas Bird Count. European Starlings posted a record high total of 4076, eclipsing the previous high of 3101, set also in 1998.

Other species tallied in record high numbers were: Mute Swan – 21 (previous high 10 in 2009); Mourning Dove – 1897 (previous high 1573 in 2012); Red-bellied Woodpecker – 33 (previous high 16 in 2012); Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 4 (previous high 1 several times); Hermit Thrush – 3 (previous high 2, twice);  Eastern Towhee – 4 (previous high 2, twice); Fox Sparrow – 10 (previous high 1, twice); Swamp Sparrow – 3 (tied 3 other years); White-throated Sparrow – 58 (previous high 29 in 2005); White-crowned Sparrow – 2 (tied 3 other years).

Even after 46 years, two species observed were new to the count. Three Tundra Swans were found in Port Hope Harbour. A Lincoln’s Sparrow was found north of Port Hope in the company of a Swamp Sparrow.

The New Year will start off with the last of Northumberland County’s Christmas Bird Counts, the Rice Lake Plains, on January 1. This count is centred south of Burnley and includes all of the Northumberland Forest. Who knows what surprises await observers.