Robins were plentiful in Jefferson this past week, a sure sign of spring…..or so most of us think. It’s a small disappointment to learn that robins aren’t any more a harbinger of spring than a disappearing groundhog on Feb. 2 is a harbinger of six more weeks of winter.
Folks who really know birds know that not all robins migrate; some stay in the Midwest year round. The American robin is very hardy and adapts to just about any North American habitat. The availability of food, not cold temperatures, is what motivates a flight south.
The ones who stay eat fruit– Thank you, Deal’s Orchard. They hang out in wooded areas where they find shelter from the most bitter cold. On warmer days they venture out looking for food. They come out more this time of year just like the rest of us. They haven’t returned from anywhere.
So, how do we tell the hardy tough-it-out robins from the “snowbird” robins? How do we know it’s spring? Listen…. Robins who have left for the winter and then return to their breeding territory sing. Scientifically, it’s surging hormones that cause them to sing. It’s breeding, not being “home,” that makes them sing.
In Iowa, the more certain way to determine it’s spring is to watch the calendar of community events. When soup and potato bar suppers give way to salad luncheons, it’s spring. And when farmers get in their fields, and that incredible feeling of optimism for a new season blows on the Iowa breezes, it’s spring.
