Saturday, May 21, 2016

American Robin Turdus migratorius Camden State Park Minnesota May 20, 2016


I went for a short hike at Camden State Park, hoping to see one of my favorite birds, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. It wasn't until near the end of my visit when I finally saw it. On the hike, I got some great footage of this American Robin, though. Awesome! I hope you enjoy this video and some information from the Sibley Guide to Birds below. Thank you.
 
American Robin
Turdus migratorius
Large and conspicuous, this species is one of the most familiar birds. It is commonly seen on grassy lawns but is found in many habitats from tundra to forests, often in large flocks in winter.
Large and sturdy, with long legs and fairly long tail; plain orange breast and grayish back distinctive in all plumages.
Wingbeats smooth, flicking; short glides with wings held close to body.
Robinlike Songs: American Robin sings in a pattern of several short, warbled phrases, followed by a pause and then another set of phrases, and so on. This song pattern is shared in varying degrees by many other species of birds, and references to “robinlike songs” are frequent. Songs most often compared to robins include those of the Red-eyed Vireo group, tanagers, Rose-breasted (Pheucticus) grosbeaks, and some orioles.
Voice: Song a series of low whistled phrases with liquid quality typical of thruses; each phrase delivered rather quickly but with long pauses between phrases; often two or three phrase alternately repeated over and over plurrri, kliwi, plurrri, kliwi. . . . Call varies from a low mellow pup or a sharp, clucking, often double piik to a sharper, rapid, urgent series kli quiquiquiqui koo; also a lower, softer puk puk pukand a harsh, high, descending shheerr. Flight call a very high, trilled, descending srreel; often combined with other calls such as srreel puk puk puk. Alarm like other thruses: a very high, thin tseeew or shorter seew.
Geographic variation is limited and clinal. Most Western populations average paler and drabber than Eastern and nearly lack white corners on the tail. Breeders of Atlantic Canada are richly colored with extensive black on nape and mantle. Western birds have very limited white tail corners.

 
 


Works Cited
Sibley, D. A. The Sibley Guide to Birds. New York City: Chanticleer Press, Inc. (2000): 403.

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