My Birding Blog is all about birding (aka bird watching), birders, and wild birds of Orange County. Especially about birding in Orange County, California. Includes profiles of the birds of Orange County, the rare birds of Orange County, Orange County birding hotspots, and much more. (All pictures and text under copyright of the Karen McQuade,OC Birder Girl, unless otherwise stated)
Photo Courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife--Photographer Lee Karney
Like most thrushes, American Robins are a bit on the plump side. The back, wings, and tail of an American Robin are dark gray. The head is a slightly darker gray. The Robin's eyes are surrounded by thick, broken eye rings. The bill is large and yellow. The most well-known marking is the brick-red chest. Females are lighter. Less of a difference in color of head, back, wings, and tail. Juveniles are lighter than adults and spotted.
Photo Courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife--Photographer Lee Karney
American Robins eat fruit, invertebrates including the proverbial worm, and insects. They tend to eat more fruit in the fall and winter and more insects and invertebrates in the spring and summer.
Photo Courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife--Photographer Donna Dewhurst
In Spring and Summer, you will see American Robins with one or a few individuals on the lawns looking for invertebrates like worms. However, in Fall and Winter they get together in huge flocks and look for berries and other fruit just like the Cedar Waxwing. Winter and Spring difference in behaviors during winter and spring cause less sightings of American Robins even in areas where they occur year round. This is because while in one sighting, you may see a flock of American Robins, you will not see the individual American Robins you see on your lawn or in the park. The concentration of American Robins at fruit sources in the Winter reduces the number of places and the frequency of sightings. You may on occasion see a large flock, but you will not usually see an individual American Robin until Spring. Flocks can number in the hundreds of thousands. They migrate for the winter to the Pacific Coast from Southern Canada, the Pacific Northwest, and Mexico and Guatemala.
Juvenile American Robin--Photo Courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife--Photographer Sean Varner
American Robins like areas that combine grass, trees, and shrubs. They do well in Urban areas with lawns and parks as long as pesticides are not used. They are birds that are likely to show up in front and back yards as well as parks. They are seen in places like Peter's Canyon, Irvine Open Space Preserve, Mason Regional Park and even more including your own yard.
Photo Courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife--Photographer James Leupold
Other American Thrushes include the Eastern Bluebird, the Western Bluebird, the Mountain Bluebird, Townsend’s Solitaire, Veery, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Swainson’s Thrush, Hermit Thrush, Wood Thrush, and the Varied Thrush. In Orange County, the list of thrushes is reduced to Swainson’s Thrush, and Hermit Thrush.
American Robin at Nest with nestlings from Birds and Blooms Magazine
American Robins have a breeding season that runs from April through July. They raise up to three broods. Oddly enough the same pair might pick very different places for its nests with each brood. The young are very dependent on the parents for food even after they leave the nest. American Robins mate for the season and raise young. Then they part. The average life span for American Robins live about 2 years, but the record for the longest lived American Robin in the wild is 14 years.
American Robins are well known during breeding season for fighting their own reflections in windows and buildings. At a job in LA, a Robin constantly attacked his own reflection in the window outside my supervisor's office. It was a little hard to concentrate during meetings in his office while the Robin challenged and fought himself in the window outside.
American Robin Courtesy of The National Biological Information Infrastructure Photographer--John J. Mosesso
This is an easy bird for any birder to add to their lifelist. Just look for this bird in the Spring at a park or yard near you.
Research from Colorado State University on the effect of research on American Robins and the fledge rate of nests that are studied versus nests that are not. Interesting.
Please message me on my OC Birder Girl Facebook page rather than on my blog. I try to respond to every comment, but sometimes with life as it is, I miss a few comments. My apologies to anyone I have missed. Please note that I have zero tolerance for any comments unrelated to birding. I also have zero tolerance for thinly veiled sales pitches disguised as comments on this blog. And I report all spam.
Welcome to My Birding Blog. I'm glad you stopped by. Are you wondering where to go birding in Orange County? Scroll down into the the sidebar, and take a look at some of the Birding Hot Spots listed. You will find community parks, regional parks, nature centers, wilderness areas, and more. Or you can find a good place to birdwatch by clicking on Birding Hot Spots--Orange County. These are posts I have written about places I have birded in Orange County. Looking for a good field guide about birds? Check out my review of birding field guides. Have a comment you want to share? Feel free to post a message about birding in Orange County, comment on a post, vote on the lastest polls, or check the weather before you head out to bird. Scroll down the sidebar for lots of good links to birding information both local and national.
I created My Birding Blog to share · Information about the bird species of Orange County. · Where to go birding in Orange County. · Information about birding and birding skills in general. · My birding experiences and bird walks I have been on. · Attracting birds to backyards in Orange County.
The pictures and text on this site are under copyright and cannot be used without written permission from Karen McQuade, the OC Birder Girl.
I hope you will find birding (birdwatching) as amazing, relaxing, and just plain fun as I do. We who live in Orange County are blessed to have so many wild and natural places right here where we live. Let's get out there and enjoy these great places. Have fun birding in the O.C.!
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Legal notice: All pictures and text on My Birding Blog unless otherwise stated are copyrighted by Karen McQuade, the OC Birder Girl. Short quotes of text with proper credit are fine. Otherwise, you may not use any material on this blog without written permission from me. Thank you for understanding.
About My Posts
I update articles/blogs with more information and more pictures frequently. Since I put a lot of information in each post, the original date I start the blog is the post date, but it may not be the date I publish it. My focus is getting detailed, helpful information about good places to go birding and information about wild birds in Orange County. So check back, articles/blogs are updated and enhanced regularly.
I welcome all comments about birding, wild birds, feeding wild birds, gardening for birds birding in Orange County, California, birding hot spots, and other comments related to birding in Orange County. This blog is fully moderated, and so only appropriate, topic-related comments will be posted.
Red-tailed Hawk at Newport Back Bay
OC Birder Girl Shops
I have two great shops for birders. They are great places to find gifts for birdwatchers and for birders themselves.
Check out my Amazon OC Birder Girl Store . I have tried to include guidebooks, books on birds, CDs about birding by ear, and DVDs about birding in an easy-to-access format. If there is something you are looking for and cannot find, let me know and I will see if I can locate it for you.
If you like my photographs and would like a poster, mug, or other product with one on it, visit my OC Birder Girl Store at Cafe Press. I am just getting started and will be adding more as soon as possible.
Contact the OC Birder Girl
You can contact me by leaving a comment. Go to the end of a post and click on the comment link. It says the number of comments there already. Clicking on this link is how you comment or send a message to the OC Birder Girl. I moderate the comments and see your message. I am happy to answer questions about birding or about the posts. The comment will not be published if you request that it not be published. If you have a question and would like to ask for information about birding, wild birds, or feeding wild birds, go to Ask the OC Birder Girl and post your question. I will answer it on that page.
I have been a birder for a few decades. It all began when I took two classes about birding at a Community College. The classes were Inland Birds and Coastal Birds. There was a great teacher who would note a bird flying in with the comment: "Someone just flew in." We were skeptical and awed when a bird would whirl by and Bev would say, "sparrow," or some other bird family or species. Did she really see it? Or was she making up all these birds whirling past? Now I know she did really id them. Familiarity breeds recognition. Another friend and I began a birding journey in those classes that still goes on today. I even started an daily email at work about birds that got everyone interested in the the birds in the area. It is a great way to appreciate God's creation and to get fresh air and exercise. I am no longer a teen by any means, but I figure if my great aunts could be referred to as "girls" until they were in their 80's and beyond, I can be the OC Birder Girl. You can contact me about this blog by making a comment on one of the posts. I moderate all comments and will see your message.