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geofflambert -> RE: OT: Something to ponder on? (2/5/2022 3:51:59 AM)
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Migration changes. We have a very common bird called the American robin which is a thrush that is mainly known for pulling earthworms out of the ground. Twenty years ago or so you would never see one here in Winter but that's no longer true thanks to global warming. In the past 30 or 40 years we've gone South two agriculture zones, from zone 4 to zone 6. Those zones help describe what types of crops will do well. Robins are territorial so I think maybe the birds we see in the Winter are some of the same individuals that were here in the Summer, but without banding them I can't be sure. I believe most robins migrate to some extent so the ones we see in the Winter may have come from way North and stopped their migration here. Today was a bad day for robins, though. If I manage to get a pic of one in the snow I'll post it. Anyways, besides worms robins will take berries but they aren't adept at landing and perching on bushes in order to get them. They mostly stay on the ground or perch on fences or large branches. There are plenty of holly berries about they could feed on if they could reach them but I've never actually seen a robin eat a holly berry. Squirrels and mockingbirds take those and the mockingbirds often drive the squirrels away from the holly bushes or try to. During the Summer I've seen robins taking my blackberries but they stand on the ground under low hanging ones and leap up in the air, usually without benefit of wing power, and grab at them. But besides the snow today the ground has been frozen for some weeks and I'm really not sure how the robins get by in these conditions.
[image]local://upfiles/37002/324D395C85C24E73BF0D93015E615642.jpg[/image]
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