The white and black bundle of fluff raced down the steps, zoomed across the patio and into the back yard. Her cascading black tail fluttered in the air as the small dog ran, stirring numerous robins into flight. Just seconds before, most of them were standing still, staring upward with their heads slightly turned. A few had perched on branches of a popcorn tree located close to the house. The dog’s sudden interference changed all that.

I had been watching robins since I got up that morning. I saw them when I opened the blinds in the living room. A flock of them populated the front yard. Here it is mid-February and I pondered, as I have in past Februarys, the old saying that robins are harbingers of spring. It certainly did not feel like spring on that cold, overcast day. I wondered, too, from what point on the globe they had left to wing their way to south Alabama. This year I finally took time to research and to my surprise, my source related that American Robins spend the whole winter in their breeding range. Since they spend more time roosting in trees and less time in yards, we are much less likely to see them.

Later that same day while working at my kitchen sink, I glanced out the window. On one side of the yard, a fat robin (or maybe it had just fluffed its feathers) was exploring a flowerbed covered with leaves beside the patio. Crisp brown leaves were flying this way and that as the robin probed the ground and tossed them, probably seeking various insects or earthworms. I had to laugh, watching the mess the bird had made with all those leaves scattered about. Quite a few other robins roamed the back yard. A movement in the popcorn tree revealed that several robins were stationed on its branches helping themselves to the “popcorn” seeds.

I learned that they eat a variety of fruits, including dogwood berries. I have never seen a robin in the dogwood trees in my yard. One study suggested that robins may try to round out their diet by selectively eating fruits that have bugs in them. Have you ever seen a drunken robin? Robins search out fruit in fall and winter. According to one study, when they eat honeysuckle berries exclusively, they sometimes get intoxicated. I guess that depends on whether you have any honeysuckles close by to tempt the hungry birds.

I was fascinated to learn that female robins choose nest sites and construct them from the inside out. They usually select the lower half of a tree, although some build them on branches in treetops. They use dead grass and twigs, which they press into a cup shape using the wrist of one wing. Then they reinforce the nest with soft mud and finish it off with fine dry grass.

I wonder. Could those robins visiting my yard have been nesting in near-by trees all year?

Nina Keenam is a former resident of Baldwin County and Staff Writer for The Foley Onlooker.