American Robin
Turdus migratorius
Family: Turdidae
First photographed: October 20, 2022
Location: Londonderry, NH
…The rest of the trail was fairly quiet. I did come across a group of 8 mallards a short while later (who knew!) and it wasn’t until the very end that I found a flock of American Robins. I was confused at first because in all the instances that I have seen robins over the years, I do not remember seeing them in a flock. Yet here they were, maybe a dozen or so flying from tree to tree and picking at berries and twigs (another surprise, as I had assumed they only ate worms and bugs). I stuck around for a good while, trying to get a decent shot. I didn’t have great success – they were too far away and fairly high up…
American Robin
Birds of NH #: 12/278
Avg. Clutch Size: 3-4
Avg. Brood/s per year: 1-3
If you were to ask me to name off as many bird species as I could, the American Robin would probably be one of the first five to come to mind. Growing up in southern New Hampshire, they were synonymous with Spring to me. My impression of these birds were that they were ground foraging creatures. Almost always taking off from our front lawn with a wriggling worm in its beak. Another belief I had was that these were solitary birds.
My own experience was seeing them dotting the lawn, one or as many as three, never getting too close to the others. My surprise was complete when I came across a flock of them darting amongst the trees back in October 2022. I was so sure in my belief that they were solitary birds that I actually didn’t believe that they could be robins at first. But the bold orange chest was an undeniable tell.
October 20, 2022 - First Image
January 18, 2023 - Favorite Image