I can see some grass showing in my yard, but the majority is still covered with snow. Is this a sign of spring? No, but over the weekend I saw the first ROBIN of the year on the ground near our bird feeder. That should be a sign of spring unless we get more snow. Guess what, we could receive 3 to 5 inches of snow at the end of the week. Now I’m wondering if the robin came back too soon.

The AMERICAN ROBIN is the most common in Wisconsin and seeing one normally would mean spring weather is close because the traditional robin migration usually occurs late February into April. This migration north is triggered by daylight hours (photoperiod) being longer, climate conditions and natural instinct of breeding, but a food source is needed also.

Depending on their geographic location some robins will travel 1000 to over 2000 miles during their northward journey. Like other birds, robins will use the sun, the earth’s magnetism and landmarks for migration. When migrating, robins travel in large flocks and can travel 100 to 200 hundred miles a day at altitudes between 1K to 3K feet. One thing that helps in migration is the jet stream shifts northward in spring and robins will use this tailwind for faster flight and to conserve energy.

For the robin I saw in my yard is a male as they arrive one to three weeks before the females to establish breeding territory. As robins live on berries and other fruits during the winter months, I’m not sure what the robin that I saw will eat because the ground is still frozen and their main food source is earthworms. Now add there’s no insects or fruit available and they do not eat bird seed. Well, I will keep you posted on his wellbeing.

Hopefully the weather here in the Northwoods will start to warm up and we will start to see female robins soon. Fingers crossed.