During the summer just about everybody sees robins in their yards. In fact, they are so common that after awhile some people do not even notice they are present. However, when those same people see a robin in their yard in winter they often get very excited or concerned. They often want to know what a robin doing here and whether it will survive.

The good news is that robins are a "half-hardy" species. Some are present every winter here in Nova Scotia. In fact, each winter anywhere from ten thousand to one hundred thousand American Robins choose to spend the season in the province. During the early part of the winter (December, January) they are rarely noticed by backyard birders as the majority of robins live on the coastal barrens. It is not until February when food starts to become scarce on these barrens that some of the robins leave them to search for other food. Their search often brings them close to towns and cities where they are noticed by people.

Another commonly asked question is, "what can I feed a robin?" Very hungry robins will eat raisins, bread crumbs, hamburger meat and apples, especially if they are over ripe and/or chopped up into berry-sized pieces. However, in most cases, American Robins ignore handouts preferring to feed instead from wild berry bushes. Planting a Mountain Ash will likely result in your yard being visited by Robins and other berry-eaters.

Occasionally in winter we will see "Newfoundland Robins". These are a subspecies of the American Robin that are larger and have heads and backs that are the same shade of gray. Often when people see robins in winter they assume they are the Newfoundland Robins but most of the time they are not.

Our spring robins return as early as the last week of March and can be told from the winter robins as they spend most of their feeding time on the lawn and not in the berry bushes.