Date: 12/28/20 7:04 am From: John Connors (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: Large Robin flyover, Chatham County NC
Hi all. Robins spend winter nights in roosts, similar to blackbirds; in fact, they sometimes join blackbirds at their roost sites. Most Robin roosts in NC are in the coastal plain where there are large expanses of pocosin and swamp forest that have persistent native fruits during winter (think tupelo, hackberry, holly, catbrier, etc). But we do have some roosts here in the Piedmont with the Robins now often feeding on introduced species like Bradford Pear and Ligustrum in the suburbs, and in the floodplain forests. The flocks to and from the roost sites are much less dense than those we see for blackbirds. My guess the direction they choose depends on how much fruit remains at the destination they had previously visited. They will wander as the fruit wanes, searching widely for new sources of fruit. Of course when it is warm enough and the ground thaws, Robins are happy to feed on worms. We have had several Robin roosts within the city of Raleigh during the last decade including one in a neighborhood next to Cameron Village, though I haven't checked on them this year. John Connors Raleigh, NC
On Mon, Dec 28, 2020 at 9:35 AM Norman Budnitz <carolinabirds...> wrote:
> That's really cool, Steve. We've had similar total numbers of robins on > the Jordan Lake CBC, but they have been spread out over the whole count > circle. It's interesting to have them all in one continuous morning flight. > > Norm > > On Mon, Dec 28, 2020 at 8:29 AM steve stevens <carolinabirds...> > wrote: > >> During the Chapel Hill CBC yesterday we had a stream of American Robins >> flyover where Lystra meets Jordan Lake >> ( >> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://goo.gl/maps/vthf3xhq1Uv6ghfe9__;!!OToaGQ!-fLhXMwbY-VGmnmWOZQRTIPUKoKVUGWpiLZRjGCqXC-iBR0QcFgT7ql6Ymbr6TLo1-Q$ >> ) pre-dawn, parked on the west >> side of the bridge. The flight started about 25 minutes before sunrise >> and lasted over 10 minutes. We counted approximately 3460 individuals, >> but the flight was still intermittently happening while we were moving >> on with the count. >> >> I'm not sure if this flock repeats this route, but figured I'd pass it >> on in case someone wanted to try for this spectacle. >> >> steve >> >> Chapel Hill, NC >> >> > > -- > Norm Budnitz > Orange County > North Carolina >
