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American Robin : American Robin Elagayuli I bet you didn't know the Robin isn't a Robin. How can that be, you ask. Let me explain. There's a bird in jolly old England that has a red breast and looks a lot like our so-called American robin. It seems the Pilgrims weren't such good bird watchers and simply misidentified our bird, which is really of an entirely different species. In fact, it is a thrush, its scientific name, Turdus migratorius, meaning "migratory or wandering thrush." It puzzles me why this particular thrush was described as "migratory," when all thrushes are migratory. A better name for the Robin might have been "Common thrush," since it is the most common of all our thrushes, nesting from Mexico almost to the Arctic Ocean. Robins don't seem to mind nesting close to humans. They especially like to be around humans who happen to have healthy lawns that grow healthy earthworms and small six- and eight-legged critters. I remember when I was a kid we always had at least one Robin nest on our property. And twice I rescued baby Robins from cats and raised them as pets, at least until they grew up and flew away. I named each of them Bobber because of the way they used to walk in a kind of bobbing motion. If the number of names given a bird by a people is any indication of how beloved it is, the Robin must take first place in this regard among the Yupik people of the Y-K Delta. In the Scammon Bay-Hooper Bay area, they call the bird Elagayuli, meaning "the one that is good at digging." Three other names, Curcurliq, Aaqcurliq, and Pitegcurliq, all relate to its wonderful spring song. There are many others, depending on where you live in the Delta, most also imitative of their song. It's hard to believe that a bird so beloved everywhere today was once killed by the thousands in the southern states for food, especially during the winter months when they gathered there in huge flocks. Uncountable numbers also died from the insecticide DDT in the 1950's. When Dutch Elm trees were sprayed for the Dutch Elm disease, the DDT-coated elm leaves dropped to the ground in fall and were subsequently eaten by earthworms which were then devoured by Robins, leading to death or reproductive failure. Rachel Carson reported this in her famous book, Silent Spring. Neither hunting of Robins nor spraying of DDT happens today, and the Robin has expanded its numbers and range perhaps more than any other bird in North America. In Alaska, this expansion has come with human deforestation of the northern forest and the clearing of land for houses. In these forest margin habitats, Robins are displacing many of their cousins, the Hermit and Swainson's thrushes. For such a common bird, the Robin certainly has some uncommon traits. To wit. After the males return to Alaska in April or May, they immediately stake out their nesting territories. When the females arrive a week or two later, you'll hear the males begin their familiar warbling, "cheer-up, cheer, cheer, cheer-up." Males now become very aggressive defenders of their territories, fighting each other and even their own reflected images in windows and the shiny parts of cars. Courting begins shortly afterward, with groups of males chasing a female, then strutting around her with tail spread, wings shaking, throat inflated, trying to entice her to follow him back to his nesting turf. After she has chosen one of her suitors, she earnestly begins building her cup- shaped nest with some help from her spouse. The nest is mostly made of twigs, mud and grasses, and lined with fine grasses. Shortly thereafter, she lays four unmarked, pastel blue ("robin's egg blue") eggs. These she incubates alone while her mate feeds her and defends their turf from intruders. Within two weeks the young hatch, and the female takes responsibility for feeding them until they leave the nest approximately two weeks hence. The male maintains a constant presence, however, as the sentinel of the fort. When the young finally fledge, their dad helps tend and feed them till they can fend for themselves. That is, unless there happens to be some kid in the neighborhood who helps out. Besides worms, the young are fed pretty much the same fare as the adults feed themselves: insects and small berries, if they happen to be ripe. When I didn't have worms for my Bobbers, I fed them morsels of bread, which they also ate eagerly. Even in Alaska, Robins will have two broods. With the warmer weather we're having these days, I suspect some may even try to have three broods. Robins have an interesting way of scratching their heads. Rather than scratch directly as most birds do, they lower their wing, reach up through their armpit, and go for it with their sharp claws. (See my drawing to get the picture.) Talk about an uncommon common bird, eh? » List of Yupik Birds

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