Backyard Winter Bird Survey

By Iain MacLeod on Friday, January 23, 2004.

listen:

Last year's survey showed some interesting trends in Robin and Bluebird populations.

Join this year's survey by visiting www.nhaudubon.org

January 23, 2004 What's the deal with winter robins, anyway? I'm Iain MacLeod from the Audubon Society of New Hampshire, and this is Something Wild.

For the past several years, many people have reported seeing more robins and bluebirds hanging around their yards in the winter. Is that really true, and if it is, then why are these birds staying here when they should be flying south?

Is it true? Yup. Audubon's Backyard Winter Bird Survey and other
research confirm that yes, more bluebirds and robins have been
hanging around the northeast in winter.

The reason why there are more bluebirds around is easy: there are simply more of them! It turns out that all of the bluebird houses people have been putting out are really helping. And more breeding bluebirds is translating into more winter bluebirds, as long as there are berries around for them to eat.

Robins are a little more complicated. It is a fact that we are seeing more of them in the winter in northeastern states. But it's been hard to get a bead on just where they are coming from.

There are theories, of course. One is that these birds are coming from the Canadian Maritimes. Well, that sounds good, except that the Maritimes are showing similar peaks to our's, so they're getting birds from somewhere as well, not losing them to New England.

Another theory is that the robins that nest here in the summer are
just staying around for the winter. Could be, except that our nesting
robin population is actually declining. If there are fewer robins in
the summer, then how could we have more of them in the winter?
Research is also showing us that there are no
declines in southern states, which you would expect if our birds just weren't bothering to fly south.

So we're back to the drawing board. One thing scientists are sure about: they need more data. So if you would like to report on your winter robins - or any other species that you have in your backyard - go to the something wild section of nhpr.org and sign up for the Backyard Winter Bird Survey, which takes place on February 14 and 15 this year.

And if you have any theories about why so many robins are around in winter, or if you have a natural history question that you would like answered on Something Wild, email us at somethingwild@ nhpr.org.

Something Wild is a joint production of the Audubon Society of New Hampshire, New Hampshire Public Radio, and the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. For Something Wild, I'm Iain MacLeod.