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I think someone who knows about them should add a section about robins that don't migrate. I live in Milwaukee and we do have year round robins here although most do fly south for the winter? Why don't those fly south?
4.143.233.83 (talk) 23:20, 17 February 2008 (UTC)rich[reply]
I asked this of a zookeeper at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago and she said that birds only migrate because of food. They come North in the Summer because there are so many insects and the babies eat tons of them. When the insects die off in the cold weather they go South. But if the bird can find food all year long there is no need to go south. She said as long as a bird can find enough food, it has no problem with cold weather, because feathers are great insulation and birds can find a lot of small places to keep the cold out. So basically it comes to food. If the Robin can find lots of food it doesn't need to fly South
Bold text==Who builds the nest?==
The article says "As with many migratory birds, the males return to the summer breeding grounds before the females and compete with each other for nesting sites. The females then select mates based on the males' songs and the desirability of the nests they have built."
However, both the dead-tree references I own, and all websites I've checked say some variation on the female doing most of the nest-building.[1]american robins are cool.[2] And the person who added that text hasn't made an edit since April, so it would probably be futile to ask on their Talk page. Niteowlneils 8 July 2005 01:37 (UTC)
Text corrected, and ref given. jimfbleak 8 July 2005 05:51 (UTC)
I've been watching a nest of four eggs for at least 10 days. It's only about four feet off the ground in an abrovita. The parents fly to the nest but don't stay long. Do the adults sleep in the nest, as I assumed, or somewhere else? I thought the mother had to sit on the eggs, as a chicken does. Anyway, I'll keep watching.
2008 - I'm in Michigan with a Robins nest of three eggs just outside my front door about 7ft off the ground tucked in a corner on top of a piece of a closed gutter... one egg was laid on May 9th shorthly after the nest was completed by HER. By May 12th there were three eggs. Both the Male and the Female take turns sitting on the eggs at all diff times of the day, even when it's warm out. Since May 9th every night around 11pm I check on the nest. Starting May 12th evening I have seen either him or her on the nest every night. Whats strange is when I check on them in the evening they do not fly away when I open the door. However, during the day, when I open the door and they are on the nest they immediately fly to the closest tree and begin to badger me verbally for disrupting them. If they aren't sitting on the nest day time when I walk outside, one or both is watching from a tree about 30 feet away and again freak out verbally with agitated chirps while bouncing around the tree. Lastly, if it is only one watching the nest from the tree, it takes only several min for the other one to fly back and assist in the verbal protection of their soon to be young. Kerri cat5869@comcast.net
Spelling
I've noticed that there's been some editing back and forth about the spelling of "fledging". My understanding was that "fledging" was a verb, used to describe the action of the mother caring for her young birds...and that the word "fledgling" was a noun referring to the young birds...should we change it back to fledgling? or am I mistaken here?
The article presently says:
Bird banders have found that only 25% of young robins survive the first year.
Is this claim literally true, or is the proper claim that only 25% of banded young robins survive through their first year? Certainly it would be possible to splice statistics on younger birds to those banded birds, but was this in fact done? —SlamDiego16:29, 28 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]
As of 4 February 2008, the article says:
"The gestation period of the female is 40 days."
Could someone knowledgeable about birds comment on gestation?
Looking at the wikipedia article on gestation, there is no mention of gestation
for birds. It is my impression that the term gestation is inappropriate for birds
and that the term incubation applies to birds. In the context of this wikipedia article, does gestation refer to the time from mating until an egg is laid? If so, the article could say "About 40 days passes after mating until an egg is laid." I have not found a reference for this, though. Also, I have read elsewhere that robins lay one egg per day and that the female typically lays 4 eggs, sometimes 5. Three eggs were not mentioned unless an egg breaks, in which case the female often lays another egg. If correct, that seems appropriate to add to the article.
— JonEAhlquist 4 Feb 2008 (I am a meteorologist and am no relation to the Jon E. Ahlquist who is the bird expert who worked with Charles Sibley.)
This is quite a meaty article and shouldn't need too much to get to GA/FA. We should have a discussion on images - in text vs gallery. In general for Featured Content the consensus has been sparing use of images through the text, while the gallery is in essence located on Commons (and hence we're promoting Commons by the link). cheers, Casliber (talk·contribs) 00:59, 19 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
That sounds good - images, I mean. I moved some of them out of the text because they were making the section formatting weird. Does anyone have sources for the vocalization section? If we can get at least one in there, that would be good. Also, I think the lead needs to be expanded - I'll start that now. Corvus coronoidestalk01:13, 19 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I found one for the Canadian 2-dollar bill. I'm not sure that it's an excellent source, though. This link was somewhat useful, but all it says is "robins," so I figured we needed a source that was more specific. Corvus coronoidestalk01:30, 19 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
It won't get through GA without taxonomy, methinks, I've started the section and will add subspecies from Clements later, I've also done a first copy edit, but there's more to do Jimfbleak (talk) 08:23, 19 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I've no strong opinion, but it's been separate (sometimes under the heading "Conservation" for threatened species) in several previous GA/FAs. If it can't be extended, maybe merge? Jimfbleak (talk) 07:42, 20 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Lead needs work -no mention of nest or voice, but trivia like "state bird of ..." Also nothing on brood/external/internal parasites Jimfbleak (talk) 07:58, 20 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I've tweaked the lead a bit. As for the "state bird of... " bit, would it be appropriate to add that to the "In culture" section or no? Speaking of which, can "In culture" be renamed to something a little more sophisticated sounding? I know we used "Cultural depictions of ravens" for the Common Raven. Even something like "Robins in culture" sounds better to me than "In culture." Corvus coronoidestalk23:36, 20 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
MoS doesn't like the article name to be repeated in heading. I think to get to GA now,
"culture" needs some work, but as a Brit I have no sources
"description" looks a bit thin to me, needs more detail
gallery needs to go, images moved into article or lost, commons checked
Okay, well, I fleshed out "description" a bit and removed the gallery. As for "culture," I happen to be an American, but I'm an American student, and I have no sources. I've never heard of the robin having any cultural significance before seeing the Tlingit bit in this article. As a student, I don't think any of the sources I can get my hands on will be of much use and a quick search at my local library gets me children's books and field guides. Does anyone know of any specific references to robins in culture that just need a reference? I might be able to come up with that online. Corvus coronoidestalk15:35, 21 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I did some minor copy editing to the article to help out. If anyone has any extra tasks in helping with this article, let me know and I'll try to lend a hand. --ZeWrestlerTalk17:07, 21 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
thanks for that. Does any one know if AmRob has any particularly close relatives in the genus. Despite its size, Clement treats it as fairly homogenous, really only mentioning the Blackbird/Island Thrush link (other than discussing species-level splits0? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jimfbleak (talk • contribs) 13:38, 22 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
(unindent) I haven't read the article yet, but I'd suggest changing the taxobox picture- it looks faded to me. I'd suggest . Also, there is a picture of a baby robin on commons that may be worked in. Rufous-crowned Sparrow (talk) 07:20, 23 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I don't understand this sentence, referring to T. m. nigrideus: "Some females can be as dark above as males of other subspecies." Axl (talk) 17:05, 31 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Another odd sentence, referring to T. m. achrusterus: "It is smaller than the nominate subspecies and has a black forehead and crown finely tipped pale gray." Okay, it has a black forehead, but what does the latter half of the sentence mean? Axl (talk) 17:10, 31 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Regarding T. m. confinis: "the AOU regard it as only a subspecies, albeit in a different group to the other races". What is the "AOU"? Axl (talk) 19:19, 31 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, Jimfbleak. I have made several (mostly copyediting) changes. The article is comprehensive, reads well, and is nicely referenced and illustrated. I am delighted to promote it to "Good Article" status. Axl (talk) 07:57, 1 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Juvenile Picture
I have a picture of a Juvenile American Robin that more clearly shows the spotted undersides...it has a similar clarity. Would anyone object to me replacing the current image? Cazort (talk) 23:42, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I'm very surprised no mention is made in this article of where the name 'robin' came from. English settlers had a long tradition of naming the new, unfamiliar flora and fauna they came across in America after similar (and sometimes not-so-similar) looking birds, animals and plants they knew back home. The American robin was named after the European one, the only similarity being the red breast. (Ref Robert McCrum, William Cran and Robert MacNeil 1992 The Story of English 123 Faber and Faber ISBN 0 571 16443 9)
The list of 'adopted' American common names is huge and worthy of a Wikipedia aticle, I think - eg American cowslips (Caltha palustris, the kingcup or Marsh marigold in Britain) is nothing like the 'original' cowslip, Primula veris, apart from yellow-coloured flowers. Any takers? 86.133.212.100 (talk) 13:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I've added the bit about it being named after the European Robin. If you have relevant, sourced material to add to a Wikipedia article, don't just sit there being surprised that it's not already in the article -- get in there and do it! :-) Dricherby (talk) 12:10, 10 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Done I've written a much-needed stub for covert (feather) and linked to that. Jimfbleak (talk) 06:56, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
