Cheerful Robins

posted in: Birds | 0

The robins are extremely busy hopping around the garden looking for worms and grubs and making their nests.  Robins are migratory birds that belong to the thrush family.

robinapr4

The American robin (above) is named after the European robin, however they aren’t related.  Their colouring is similar and that is all.  The bird is about 28 cm long and has a black head and tail with grayish wings.  They eat fruits and insects and can frequently be seen eating the sumac plumes.

robinapr1

The cheerful robins sit in the trees and sing their morning song, very often they are the first birds to start singing in the morning.  The robin is one of the first birds to start nesting in the early spring.  They usually have 2 or 3 sets of eggs in one season, and a new nest is built for each brood.  The first nest is usually in an evergreen tree for protection.  As the spring goes on they will build nests in many places … top of outside lights, in the crook of tree branches, and they aren’t afraid to make a nest close to humans.  American robins have light blue eggs while the European robins have brown eggs.  The odd time they will reuse a nest from the previous year after making sure it is up to code and doing a little remodelling, but most likely the nesting instinct takes over and a new one is built.

robinapr3

The female is the nest builder and both male and female help protect the young.

Native American mythology says the bird got its red breast by fanning the flames of a campfire to save a Native man and boy.  Another myth says it was sent by the Raven to share its lovely singing.

I’m sharing with I’d Rather B Birdin’ and  Camera Critters,

birds in the garden … critters in the garden … water birds

Comments are closed.