Robin

What signals that spring is here? Most people say that it is seeing a robin in the yard. But it’s not the robin – it’s the worms. Robins live here all year long but in the spring time, as the ground thaws, worms rise to the surface. In order for robins to breed they need the particular nutrition that worms provide. So they hang out on lawns to pluck up the earthworms to eat. Once they lay their eggs, they go back to eating fruit from plant sources.

Robins lay beautiful, blue eggs – so striking that the color “Robin’s Egg Blue” has become well known. They lay six to eight eggs in a nest made of twigs and grass on the outside and lined with mud on the inside.   The baby birds hatch in two weeks, are kept warm by the mother, fed by the father, and fly on their own in only two weeks.

The robin is a large thrush with a bright orange-red breast. Its favorite habitat is short grassy areas like lawns – because that’s where they find the worms!