#Flock January 28

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Two weeks ago I looked out in my backyard and noticed 100’s of robins. There was a FLOCK of them. They were relative quiet no chirping or singing.

I had never seen so many robins in one place. I had always been told that robins are birds that pair off in twos much like cardinals. One of my golfing partners Knocky Thorndyke told me a similar experience he had with observing a large FLOCK of cardinals. He witnessed 100’s upon 100’s of cardinals in Lumberton NC many years ago.

My avian behavior curiosity caused me to research.

So first ROBINS do FLOCK and cardinals also FLOCK. With cardinals it defined as a temporary aggregation.

For robins in North Carolina almost any yard in the state with a sizable lawn seems to have a pair of nesting robins. Robins migrate in FLOCKS more in response to food than to temperature. Fruit is the robin’s winter food source. As the ground thaws in the spring, they switch to earthworms and insects and then pair off. It is when that food source becomes available that the FLOCK disperses.

Robins sing when they arrive on their mating territory. I learned that sometimes robins might sing in winter FLOCKS, due to surging hormones as the breeding season approaches. My hunch is two weeks ago hormone levels were normal. When you hear robins singing you probably know they have left the FLOCK and have arrived at their territory.

Sometimes in life we all need to be reminded that being part of a FLOCK helps us fulfill an unmet need

Leave you with Al Jolson singing about the red robin.