The Bird is Back
A ding dong of a robin is trying to drive me crazy. We have 10 windows in our lodge room and it is going from window to window, slamming itself against the glass. Why?
I tried to find information on why it is doing this and how to stop it but found no results.
Since I have started seeing Robins the past few days I thought to myself that I really don’t know very much about them. So I did some research.
Did you know?
The American Robin is 25–28 cm (10–11 in) long. It weighs about 77 g (2.7 oz). It has gray upper parts and head, and orange underparts, usually brighter in the male; the similarity between this coloring and that of the smaller and unrelated.
During the breeding season, the adult males grow distinctive black feathers on their heads; after the breeding season they lose this eye-catching plumage.As with many migratory birds, the males return to the summer breeding grounds before the females and compete with each other for nesting sites. The females then select mates based on the males’ songs, plumage, and territory quality. The females build the nest and lay three or four blue eggs in the lined cup. Incubation, almost entirely by the female is 11-14 days to hatching, with another 15–16 days to fledging. Two broods in a season are common. The adult male looks after the fledged chicks while female incubates her second clutch.
Some people enjoy the Robin’s presence, and want to protect the chicks; they do this by building nesting shelves for the Robin’s use. Bird banders found that only 25% of young robins survive the first year.
Robins are frequently seen running across lawns, picking up earthworms by sight. In fact, the running and stopping behavior is a distinguishing characteristic. When stopping, they are believed to be listening for the movement of prey. Without showing symptoms, the American Robin is sometimes a carrier of the West Nile virus in the Western hemisphere. This is the state bird of Connecticut, Michigan and Wisconsin.



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March 23rd, 2009 at 4:25 am
I actually sat at our front door for almost an hour yesterday watching a bunch of birds. Some were eating, some were just sort of hanging out. There were at least 3 different types. I don’t know what they were finding to eat (old grass or pine needles I’m thinking) but they were happy with it.
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March 23rd, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Sounds like you have a masochist robin. The same kind that hangs out with The Batman.
March 25th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
We had a robin one year that I swear was crazy. He perched on the rear view mirror on the driver’s side of our plow truck, and he repeatedly knocked his head against it and kept pecking at it something fierce.
This went on for days, then stopped as suddenly as it started. When I went out to see what was bugging him on the mirror – it was covered with little feathers from where he kept knocking his head against it.
I could only figure he was “fighting” the “other bird” That was always there when he was.
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