Robins party it up in winter home
By BILL VARIAN
Published January 28, 2005
Fun fact No. 1 about robins: They can't hold their berries. In early spring, they'll gorge on overripe mulberries, and get a little tipsy in the process.
Fun fact No. 2 (for people who appreciate birds, anyway): There's a ton of them flying around the Tampa Bay area right now.
"This is probably the largest invasion we've had in many years," said Joyce King, president of the Audubon Society chapter in St. Petersburg. "Often we'll have none in this area until they begin their migration north in March or April. It's rather a mystery."
Biologists who watch birds in this area speculate that a harsher and wetter winter farther north -- where robins are considered a sign of spring -- is causing them to form a sort of temporary headquarters here.
The red-breasted bird typically is found in Florida any time from October to April. Generally speaking, robins don't breed here.
They don't necessarily flock to bird feeders, not being real seed eaters. Want them around? Try plopping a few raisins, or maybe some bread crumbs, on an open feeding station (as opposed to one of those cylindrical tubes). Otherwise, they're more likely to run about your lawn -- not hopping like some other birds -- stopping occasionally to look for bugs.
Robins are not quite welcome by all. Their taste for berries includes strawberries. In older, less politically correct days, farmers would pay children a penny a bird to shoot them. Now they're more likely to use border collies to chase them off.
They also like Brazilian pepper and carrot-wood berries, two invasive species they are blamed for helping to spread.
And they occasionally dine on something a little overly ripe for their own good. They'll flock to mulberry bushes. In late winter or early spring, the berries can become intoxicating.
"Sometimes the birds will have one too many," said Rich Paul, a wildlife biologist. "They become a little looped. So it becomes fun to watch them."
- Bill Varian varian@tampabay.com