PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 1, 2025
Let’s start with the myth that robins are a sign of spring. We definitely see an influx in their numbers during spring migration, but they are a year-round species in Maine and have been for a long time. Robin winters in the state has been known since the time of Audubon. Bird populations and ranges are changing, increasingly so with the changing climate. I have long looked to red-winged blackbirds as a truer sign of spring in Maine, but even they are starting to become more regularly seen in winter. In winter, robins are primarily frugivores and can devour a bush of berries within an afternoon. Soon we’ll be hearing their melodious songs filling the morning air. You can usually pick out a robin because it’ll wake you up even before the sun rises, but at least you know that means longer and warmer days are coming! ~ Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist Doug Hitchcox