Robins a bird for all seasons
Birds flock together in frigid weather
Spotting a robin is no longer the harbinger of spring it once was for Edmontonians.
Sightings of the ruddy-breasted songbird are becoming increasingly common even in the dead of winter, says Jaynne Carre, owner of the Wildbird General Store.
During the recent cold snap, sightings of robins soared.
“That week, we started getting four or five calls a week,” Carre said.
“The robins are not as visible until they start coming into people’s backyards and hanging out with waxwings and trying to find some fruit and coming to some of the heated bird baths for a drink.”
Edmonton’s Christmas bird count recorded 60 robins in December and 76 the previous year.
“I would say it’s increasing,” Carre said.
She said there was a good crop of mountain ash berries and the winter has been relatively mild.
“Winter really didn’t hit until a lot later, so some of them were probably just postponing.”
Although known for eating worms, overwintering robins eat berries and fruit. One local photographer snapped a shot of a robin catching a stickleback fish.
Carre said people can put out dried mealworms or chopped-up apples and install a heated bird bath.
American robins aren’t the only migratory bird that is overwintering in greater numbers, Carre said.
The Christmas bird count spotted a clay-coloured sparrow for the first time in Edmonton, while a grey-crowned rosy finch, another uncommon winter sighting, was also spotted.
“So things are changing a little bit. Some birds are expanding their range.”
Birders have also noticed new species arriving in Alberta.
The white great aigrette has become an Albertan. So has the black-necked stilt, a long-legged shorebird that was seldom seen above the 49th parallel until a couple of decades ago.