Our Bird of the Month for May, the American Robin, is a familiar bird many of us associate with the seasons changing from winter to spring. And although the robin activity does really pick up in the springtime, some of our local robins stay in Minnesota all winter long. Most of the over-wintering robins in Minnesota tend to be first-year males and if you’re going to find them in the colder months, you’ll likely see them roosting in trees in low swampy areas where they have access to berries and insect eggs. Once the snow begins to melt and the ground thaws is when we usually see more robins on the ground and in our yards foraging for earthworms – they can eat up to 14 feet of worms a day!

You may see a robin running across your yard then abruptly stop, cock their head to the side, and stare at the ground. It may appear as if the robin has their ear pointing at the ground listening for movement, but the robin is using its strong vision to focus their sight out of one eye to look for dirt moving, indicating a moving worm below. Male and female American Robins look similar, but they do have some differences. Look for the females to have a duller chest and a greyer head, while the males have a rust-red chest and more of a black colored head. Young robins are nearly the same size as their parents soon after they leave (fledge) the nest, more resembling mom but with white spots and streaks on the wings and chest. Once a male and female robin pair up for mating, the female will choose the nest site and handle construction duties. Nests are often built in the lower half of trees, but it’s not uncommon for them to nest on light fixtures, gutters, ledges, and man-made nesting platforms.