Bird questions

 In the summer we had a robin in residence in our garden.  Now it (or another
one) seems to show up for a day or two and can then be gone for weeks.  Are
they territorial for only part of the year?

Another puzzle is why dozens and dozens of startlings were hanging about in
trees near us yesterday. Surely not going anywhere in particular at this
time of year?

 On Sun, 15 Jan 2012 16:51:52 -0000, "john east"


Here the garden can be like a Hitchcock film one day and bird-free the
next. Birds are like that - if there's a sudden appearance of a food
source they prefer then they'll go for it. I think Robins only get
territorial if food is scarce - there are usually 3 or 4 in the garden
here and I don't have acres (not even one acre).

The "startlings" are probably congregating to startle people (sorry,
couldn't resist that). Again, IME, they congregate on a tree in the
farm next door and a single bird will visit the garden and gorge
itself. Then it flies back to the tree and the whole flock descends.
So your congregation could be the same - they're waiting for the scout
to come back and lead them to the food source.

One hint though: don't walk underneath those trees or you'll probably
get really startled!

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling happily from the dryer end of Swansea Bay.

 

Lol!  Part of our garden is known as Bomb Alley in spring. If it isn't
the rooks calling cards, it's all the other birds.  You need to walk
down there with an umbrella on the driest of days!  Food isn't scarce
here in that we supply masses and it's certainly not been terribly
cold.  But for two days we've had robins coming to the 2 seed feeders
stuck on the kitchen window. They're all over the rest of the place but
it's unusual to see them on these particular feeders.
--
Sacha

 
Starlings tend to congregate in the afternoons before flying off to
their roost. You must have seen clips of their displays on the TV, which
are spectacular. Currently one of the most spectacular roosts in Wales
is under the pier at Aberyswyth. Must try and get up there sometime!

You can google for clips if you need to.

--
Roger T

700 ft up in Mid-Wales

 
Robins are teritorial allyear round, if food is plentifull then their
teritory may be small. Remember that robins tend to move south for the
winter, so the ones you have may have come from scandinavia,
Starlings do flock and if they se one of their number going in for
food others quickly follow, though here we see a fraction of the
numbers we used to.
Again Starlings also move south  for the winter, so again we have
northern birds with us.