Did you know? Robins owe their red breasts to the Dinosaurs. Researchers traced the red gene in birds and turtles back to their common ancestors. The University of Camebridge study shows the CYP2J19 heightens the Color vision in the red spectrum. K
I too was not aware of that. Baby robin chicks do not have any redness until their first moult so they must get the CYP2J19 at that time. We have resident robins and their breast seems to be much brighter in the winter. Or maybe it is early spring to attract a mate.
Raddang--Those robins that you are seeing, are probably not the same ones. Robins move on. I used to think that they were all the same, but actually learned that the same robins do not stay in our gardens by watching Springwatch/Fallwatch. Of course i had to investigate, and info on the internet bore that out to be true. The telly is good for something then, Our robins come primarily from Scandinavia. I have often wondered if the robins that I get in the lottie are the same ones that were in Droopy's garden. That would be something, wouldn't it.
I never realized that robins were transient. For some reason I thought they were pretty stationary and stayed in relatively the same area they were born in.
I believe that the robins found in North America do migrate as well...although I have read that some do stay behind to tough it out during milder winters. The North American robin (Turdus migratorius) and the European (Erithacus rubecula) robins are two completely different species. I believe that the robins that K and Raddang was speaking of are the European variety. Just a bit of trivia, but I thought that you might not know this.
In Wisconsin we do have some Robins that stay all year, not sure if they are old, sick or why they would want to stay in our brutal winters...
