Thursday, January 14, 2010

A Hungry Robin


A great thing about hiking as often as I do is that I see wildlife constantly. I don't really get too many animals that come close to my house, so I have to go out searching for them. Hiking helps me find them. I saw this American robin almost immediately when I got in the forest on my hiking trail.

I have also been discovering something about hiking in the winter that helps with my animal watching. Since the food is more scarce for them, the animals don't try to get away from me as quickly as they would in warmer weather. This gives me plenty of time to get as many pictures as I want of them. It also gives me extra time so I can add video to my collection.


Some of you were wondering what the robins were eating when I showed them to you in this post. I know a few of you also wondered whether they even ate things from trees. Robins are known for eating worms. Well, they also love berries. And in this episode of Rat TV you'll be able to see the robin from the pictures here trying to get a berry from this tree.


This is where the robin went when you saw him fly away in the video. You might have to expand the photo to see him. He's very close to the center of the picture. I guess he wanted a little more space between us once he got his berry. Unlike squirrels, robins must like to eat alone.

I guess that's enough for today. I'll be back tomorrow with something inspiring and fantastic, just like always.



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11 comments:

  1. Your Robin looks similar to my Orange-headed Thrush.

    But you see them more often than me. You might have appointment earlier. Do your Robin use palm top?

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  2. Wonder if the berries are frozen solid! We still see lots of bird activities around here, but not robins!

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  3. That's a great chance to be able to see how Robin eats. I was wondering too if the liquid inside the berries are frozen?

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  4. Lovely footage and another good post. Just as an addendum (I can't help myself), the majority of the American robin diet is made up of fruit and berries, with the rest being invertebrates. :)

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  5. We have a lot of Grosbeaks after our apples still frozen on the trees too...but no robins here.
    That one looked plump and healthy, which is great.

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  6. It looked like he was having a heck of a time getting that berry. I hadn't realized he had knocked it to the ground.

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  7. Ratty, this was one of your best video's. I love clips of birds and this Robin did not disappoint. Love it!

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  8. What a lovely day you had for your hike, the sun has been hiding out most days here. I really enjoyed the video as our robin won't be back until spring. The photos are great Ratty, since I see no sign of chromatic aberration your camera must have survived the tumble in the snow without harm.

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  9. I love the videos you are putting up nowadays...Will do more of the same too

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  10. Hello hello! Thank you all for your kind comments today. I guess not many of you read the comments, but I still have another game today for any of you who do read the comments. Just mention the word "Ornithologist" in your comment on my next post to win the game, and I'll see about continuing my little prizes. I hope you've liked them so far. Now I'll answer a few questions.

    @Rainfield
    Maybe the reason our two birds look similar is because they are both of the Thrush family. They do look very similar.
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    @Icy and Vanilla
    I'm not sure if the berries are frozen or not. I tried to check today, but I can't reach them. I would guess that they are.
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    @Thonoir
    Thanks for the added information. I've listed in a past post what robins eat, but that was about a year ago.
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    @SquirrelQueen
    Yup, the camera is just fine after my fall, but I've been feeling its limitations lately. Thanks for being the one to take the time to enter my comment contest.
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    @Kruel
    I'll be looking forward to more of your videos.

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