Episode Show Notes / Description
Is the American Robin really the first harbinger of spring? In this episode I talk about the partially-migratory American Robin and why so many folks seem to think it disappears for the winter. This is an isolated segment of an upcoming bonus episode about the earliest and most reliable signs of spring.
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The following Cornell Lab | Macaulay Library recordings were used in this episode:
- American Robin call by Wil Hershberger (ML508731)
- American Robin call by Randolph Little (ML508733)
- American Robin call by Mike Andersen (ML508737)
Transcript
There’s an old belief that the appearance of the robin is one of the true signs of spring’s return. But their promise is a false one…because the Robin, one of illinois’ most common birds, never really leaves. Their habits change; with the ground frozen they take to the trees in flocks. Together, they cruise suburbs and woodlands…fly to neighboring cities and back again; all in a search for berries and fruits still clinging to leaf-bare branches.
So When you're inside; Huddled; hiding from the cold …they’re out there. They’re harder to find, but they’re there.
When the sun barely rises before it starts setting again..and darkness catches you before you even make it home, they’re there
And When you’ve finally settled into that endless run of dark days and frigid nights after the holidays; when long shadows cast over old footprints; They’re there.
But in the spring when you sit outside for the first time, unhuddled and uncovered, breathing air scented with newly thawed soil, when you are at ease and not pent up in winter’s solitude; they're there too…but you'll notice them now. That’s why folks think that spring comes with the robins - the trick is not that the robin breaks the winter, but that you do.
So When you're inside; Huddled; hiding from the cold …they’re out there. They’re harder to find, but they’re there.
When the sun barely rises before it starts setting again..and darkness catches you before you even make it home, they’re there
And When you’ve finally settled into that endless run of dark days and frigid nights after the holidays; when long shadows cast over old footprints; They’re there.
But in the spring when you sit outside for the first time, unhuddled and uncovered, breathing air scented with newly thawed soil, when you are at ease and not pent up in winter’s solitude; they're there too…but you'll notice them now. That’s why folks think that spring comes with the robins - the trick is not that the robin breaks the winter, but that you do.