Seeing robins (birds) here in mid winter - very strange!! (dog, cold)

[Tennesseestorm]

(I mentioned this on the thread about where we had a black widow in our driveway on a 30° morning that was till alive!)

I am in northeast Tennessee and I am seeing Robin birds around here! My dad said he seen some last week (around Christmas), I thought he was kidding.

However today I seen about 15 of them on the courthouse lawn! I am 34 years old and I have lived here all of my life and have NEVER seen a robin in January! March maybe- or maybe even late February, but never early January! I bet they are regretting it since this also looks like its going to be a record cold winter - or near it anyway... we only had 2 days with above average highs in December 2010! I mean we are the south, but not the deep south and it does get cold here being higher terrain of 1100-2000 ft in elevation in the region.... we are between 1400-1600 ft here.

Anyone else been seeing these that normally dont see them this time of year?

I hope they will be OK... looks like another unusually cold and snowy week in our future!!

[latetotheparty]

they stay around here all winter.....

[CrowGirl]

I'm farther south (Florida), so we ONLY have them in the winter, I look forward to seeing them every year because they were one of my favorite birds growing up in Michigan

[lifelongMOgal]

Originally Posted by latetotheparty

they stay around here all winter.....

Really? Not over here on the West side of the state.

[Tennesseestorm]

Originally Posted by latetotheparty

they stay around here all winter.....

Wow, thats strange.

Originally Posted by CrowGirl

I'm farther south (Florida), so we ONLY have them in the winter, I look forward to seeing them every year because they were one of my favorite birds growing up in Michigan

Isnt it strange how things work out... I thought they all went to the DEEP south for the winter, where there is a select few this year that has decided to hang out here, which is not good... we are expecting well below average temperatures all week... some nights could be as cold as 20° below average = they are not going to like it!

Originally Posted by lifelongMOgal

Really? Not over here on the West side of the state.

not here either in east TN.

[sll3454]

Some people notice them; some people don't. Also, it may be that no robins frequented a particular neighborhood or park, and now some of them have discovered it. In CA I lived next to a park, walked there daily, and observed about 90 species of birds. No robin. However, about ten miles away, at a different park (nature preserve) I did see robins.

This map shows the range of the American robin. Yellow is summer, blue is winter, and green is year-round.

File:American Robin-rangemap.gif - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[SheridanPDC]

I live in northern WY and I see robins all year round. Granted, not nearly as many in the winter and not in the same places as I would see them in the spring/summer. But they're here.

[Stumbler.]

Robins usually switch their diet from small animals like worms, to fruit once it gets cold and have an enormous winter range. Some of them go pretty far south and others can stick around whenever they can find berries on trees to last them the winter long (so you might see them near those trees). It's often said that robins migrate along the 37F degree isotherm line when they fly north in the spring.

[suei]

This thread is very strange to me, in the UK Robins are seen more often in the winter months because of their red breast against a backdrop of white snow.

On one of our doggy walks there is a Country Lane where they must be breeding as there are loads of them quite tame too, they will let you get quite close.

That part of the beauty of owning a dog, going on our Country walks and seeing the wildlife at its best.

[mrs1885]

Middle TN and we've still got plenty here. Never thought of it. I don't remember them not being here during a certain time of year though.