I was looking out the window into the backyard... from the house...it looked like a group of blackbirds. Looking a little closer, I found that they were robins, maybe thirty of them. I haven't seen a robin in quite a while, so I decided to check it out on the internet, after watching them for a while. I was surprised to find out that robins don't necessarily migrate for a long distance in the late fall. They simple go a little further south than my home in Illinois. If berries and other fruits are abundant here...they will sometimes stay. I have noticed that they disappear in the summer after they have nested. I have always wondered why and where do they go.? Robins, and other garden birds, don't go very far. Many birds coming to the end of the very busy breeding season ... will soon be turning their attention to molting worn out feathers. During this time they are more vulnerable to predators and will 'hide' themselves away and won't sing, many retreat to nearby woodlands or farmland while they grow their new feathers, and won't return to gardens until the autumn. So what were they doing in my backyard? Maybe getting ready to go on a short trip to So. Illinois. They spend the winter in the company of Cedar Waxwings and Red Winged Blackbirds. Years ago...my Mom and Dad had a crabapple tree. It held it's fruit all winter and would sometimes be full of robins. They came everyday for a while...till the tree was bare. The tree was outside their kitchen window and we could open the curtains and watch them eat while we sat quietly by. I was thinking back to last year and wondered if many robins stayed here during that very cold weather.If the weather is harsh and no fruit and insects are available, they will resort to eating birdseed. I know that some older birds don't make it through our hard winters, but I do hope that the robins have the sense to move south...if old man winter rears his "ugly" head again this year. It is such a joy to see the first one in the spring.
Balisha
An update on Tweety...
We are enjoying this little bird and all his antics. He loves to be sprayed with a bottle of water. He thinks it's rain. He enjoys a little salad everyday...especially Romaine lettuce. He eats till it's gone. I have just experimented with the amount that he eats. His CD arrived in the mail and now he listens to Feathered Phonics everyday. I do hope that he will warble, but if not...he's the cutest thing. We had trouble finding a place for the cage...no drafts, not near a door or register, not near the kitchen...so many restrictions. We didn't want him in another room, because we bought him to watch and provide entertainment so...we put him on a little table in the living room and there he sits and will continue to..I guess. He's quite messy and tosses things around and out of his cage...so the vacuum is out each day. He loves the sound of the vacuum. I have been reading about the deplorable condition of birds in pet shops. We didn't find that to be true at PetSmart. The birds were housed in a glassed in area and were very clean. The glass sparkled and the floor of the cage very clean. There were just two canaries to a huge cage. There was food and special treats, timothy grass in nests, fresh vegetables, clean water and places for these birds to fly from perch to perch. Although the clerks didn't know the answers to many of our questions, the birds were clean, singing, flitting around, and healthy looking. That's about it...if you have no other pets and could use some company...why not get a little feathered friend? Balisha
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