Are Robins the First Sign of Spring?
Photos by Jim Easton, Nature Photographer
Red-winged Blackbird, here year round
The old wives’ tale is that a robin is the first sign of spring, but American Robins are an adaptable lot. Some migrate and others don’t. They do seem to disappear in winter, but they may just be flocking to nearby wooded areas where they’re protected. Then as the weather warms, these flocks split up and our local robins emerge, looking for food and mates while they unknowingly pollinate flowers and control pests in my garden by munching on insects and eating berries.
Yellow-throated Warbler, one of the early warblers arrives mid to late March
If you’re looking for birds to forecast the coming of spring in Virginia, keep an eye out for warblers and other neotropical songbirds, stopping over in your garden, as they travel through Virginia along the Atlantic Flyway. These beautiful birds are referred to as neotropical because they are returning to North America for their breeding season after spending their winter in Central and South America, which sounds like a good place to keep warm!
Eastern Phoebe, Greenspring Trail, here year-round
After reading up on bird migration, I’m not taking a stand on robins as weather predictors. Climate change is making it too tricky. Instead, here are a couple of photographs by Jim Easton, a talented nature photographer, that I wanted to share of our local avian friends that are here in the Williamsburg area for spring. Watch for them and let Grandma know when you see that first robin.
Sources: Jessica Ruthenberg, Wildlife Biologist, “Spring Migration Has Begun!” Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, 2018, (https://dwr.virginia.gov/blog/spring-migration-has-begun-visit-the-virginia-birding-wildlife-trail-to-view-migratory-birds/)
Rivas, “LiveGreen: The Benefits of Birds,” University of Nebraska Medical Center, July 2015 (https://www.npca.org/articles/2769-as-the-robin-flies)
USDA Forest Service, “Bird Pollination,” United States Department of Agriculture, (https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/animals/birds.shtml)
Bill Willis, “Is the Robin the First Sign of Spring?” National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Feb 2016 (https://kids.niehs.nih.gov/topics/natural-world/wildlife/animals/robin/)
Nicolas Brulliard, “As the Robin Flies,” National Parks Conservation Association, Winter 2021 (https://www.npca.org/articles/2769-as-the-robin-flies)