The BNA for American Robin entry implies that robins do migrate occasionally at nighttime (which is what I learned in ornithology back in the 70s--that they're like Canada Geese in that they can migrate whenever they darned-well feel like it). BNA says, "Migrating in flocks primarily during the day, birds strike television towers less often than do regular nocturnal migrants," and "Captive robins kept on a near-normal spring photoperiod of 12:12 to 16:8 h develop migratory restlessness that lasts through both the daytime and nighttime hours (Kemper and Taylor 1981<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/462/articles/species/462/biblio/bib108>). More information needed."
When I counted migrating songbirds along Lake Superior during autumns in the 1980s and early 90s, robins were often on the move when we first arrived at or before sunrise. Best, Laura Erickson On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 4:08 PM, Jeff Wells <[email protected]> wrote: > Very cool! Makes sense when you see large numbers of robins flying over > in the early morning hours that they would be birds that have been moving at > night. Funny though that over the years I don’t recall picking up any within > the 10 PM-2 AM window that I think of as indicating birds moving through the > night as opposed to in the early morning hours when it is not as clear > whether they just started migrating or are descending. > > > > Speaking of birds that move through the night but are not as readily > detected, have any of you picked up terns other than Caspian Tern migrating > at night? It’s obvious that they migrate at night based on the way they just > appear one morning in a location but it seems like you don’t hear them. > Though at least Caspian Terns in the fall when they have still-dependent > young regularly call back and forth with the trailing young birds at night. > > > > Jeff > > > > *From:* Michael O'Brien [mailto:[email protected]] > *Sent:* Tuesday, April 06, 2010 3:59 PM > *To:* Jeff Wells > *Cc:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: [nfc-l] Night flight call station results-Maine-April 1-3 > > > > Jeff, > > > > I'm interested in your assertion that American Robin is strictly a diurnal > migrant. Perhaps that is true in some areas, but in Cape May it certainly is > not. We regularly see massive American Robin flights at night, in fall at > least. These flights often continue or resume in the first few hours of the > morning and again in the last hour or so of the day. During particularly > heavy flights, the movements may continue longer into the day, but my > estimation is that the bulk of the movement always takes place at night. I > find their behavior to be much like that of Bobolink, only they seem to be > less vocal. It would be interesting to know what others have observed and if > the situation is different elsewhere. My guess is that the main difference, > if any, is that robins call more frequently in certain situations and fly > more quietly in others. > > > > good listening! > > Michael O'Brien > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Jeff Wells" <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Tuesday, April 6, 2010 2:42:45 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern > Subject: [nfc-l] Night flight call station results-Maine-April 1-3 > > I started my automated recording station for the season here in Maine on > Thursday night, April 1st. Although there were few calls each of the last > three nights, the numbers increased a little each night from about 10 the > night of the 1st to about 30 last night. There were a few Hermit Thrushes > the first night, 6 the 2nd and 12 the night of the 3rd. There were a few > Killdeer each night, a Wood Duck, and 4-10 sparrows each night with Song and > White-throat plus a couple that may be American Tree Sparrow and a junco or > two. A few other items of interest: > > > > -several nights had Herring Gull calls in the middle of the night that I > assume are night migrating birds; > > > > -several nights had the squeal flight calls of American Robins around > midnight. Although I sometimes have what I assume to be local on-the-ground > robins sing and give ground alarm calls in the middle of the night, they > don't give the squeal calls. The acoustics of the recorded squeal calls also > seem more like birds overhead. I suspect that, as unlikely as it seems, that > these were night-flying robins when by all accounts the species is only a > diurnal migrant; > > > > -one night I had what sounded like a bit of song of a night-flying Hermit > Thrush. I typically get some night-flying birds in May that break out in > song or partial song while flying overhead but I had never picked that up > for Hermit Thrush. > > > > I posted some of the call files on my blog at: www.borealbirds.org/blog > > > > Jeff Wells > > > > > -- -- Laura Erickson Science Editor Cornell Lab of Ornithology 159 Sapsucker Woods Road Ithaca, NY 14850 607-254-1114 If you've found this information useful, I hope you'll consider supporting our work on behalf of birds and other wildlife. In addition to knowing that you'll be making a difference for conservation, you'll receive our award-winning Living Bird magazine and informative BirdScope newsletter four times a year. We invite you to join our "force for nature." To sign up or watch our video about membership, visit http://www.birds.cornell.edu/NetCommunity/membership or call us at 1-800-843-2473. For the love, understanding, and protection of birds There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature--the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter. --Rachel Carson Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail. -- NFC-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
