The deadly Robin!

The early bird gets the worm… right?

Birds get worms at other times… especially when there has been rain.

Here is a good example.

Behold. 

The alert and noble Robin.

Wary and cunning hunter.

Robins don’t eat seeds.  They eat worms, soft fruit and berries.

They move along with great awareness of their surroundings.  They will at times make little dashes around the ground when they spot something likely. 

AHA!  Preeeeeeey! 

The juicy EARTH WORM!

He pulls the worm from the ground with a looooong pull and then cuts it up.

Tossing it around helps to get it into position.

Eventually…. SHHHLUCK… down it goes.

And that’s how it is done.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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28 Comments

  1. Ricky Vines says:

    The early bird gets the worm. And that’s what the worm gets for getting up so early.

  2. Haaa! I like the caption

  3. Ann says:

    I’ll take the seeds any day. Or the baking potato that my hubby just drove to town to buy because I am pregnant and craving one…the man is fantastic!

  4. JL says:

    Do you get any great blue herons out where you are, Father? It’s amazing to watch them fish.

  5. Sharon says:

    Great camera!

  6. little gal says:

    In the first two photos it looks as if Robin has just gotten treatment at the Hairclub… [ROFL!]

  7. Gloria says:

    “They move along with great awareness of their surroundings.” Except as I’ve mentioned before, when they’re standing in the middle of the road or hopping across it(why did the robin cross the road?),oblivious to oncoming cars – then – just oblivious! [But… but… there are worms on the road!]

  8. Hans says:

    A couple tidbits on the natural history of robins and worms:

    You can tell adult male and female robins apart because the adult male usually has a darker head. (See http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Robin/id) The one in these pictures is almost certainly male, as you can see the sharp contrast between the black head and grey back in pictures 3 & 4.

    Supposedly, most worms in the northern US and Canada were introduced from Europe. (See http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/kids/soil/story2/goodworm.htm [though they confuse ‘descendant’ for ‘ancestor’].)

  9. Dino says:

    Sleep in late! Early birds get only worms!

  10. Hidden One says:

    I heard once from a naturalist that a robin is the only bird that can survive entirely on a diet of worms. Handy trait, if true.

    All in all, though, my palate is with the goldfinch.

  11. pelerin says:

    Wonderful pictures and how different the American Robin is from our British Robin!

  12. Margaret says:

    Mmmm…. protein!

    And while I won’t say that you missed your calling, Father, :) you do have a great way with the camera. What a terrific set of shots!

  13. Montag says:

    Good pictures.
    I am not clear on why the robin is referred to as “noble”.
    He is alert. But many people who may be described as “noble”
    have been anything but “alert”.

  14. Alina ofs says:

    Thank you Father for these magnificent pictures. Although St. Francis would have NEVER harmed a single worm, let alone eating them, this makes my franciscan heart race!

    I’m looking forward to more pictures….

  15. Warren says:

    It may be that the early bird gets the worm, but it’s the second mouse that gets the cheese.

  16. I definitely agree with the goldfinch. Worms are yucky!

    The photos are splendid, however! :)

  17. Hans says:

    how different the American Robin is from our British Robin!

    The American robin is a thrush, pelerin, and the British robin evidently (wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Robin) were once considered to be a thrush, but it has since been reclassified as a flycatcher. There is apparently (wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_World_flycatcher#Systematics) some confusion about the boundary between those families is unclear.

  18. Hans says:

    Gah! And evidently confusion in my mind as to how to write.

  19. Mattk says:

    LOL! Thanks Fr. Z!

  20. Irish says:

    I have one flower bed that always seems to have a lot of grubs. When I’m getting the bed ready for annuals, I always throw the robins any grubs I find. (Not the worms, though. They are too good for the soil to give away!) One year, I was doing a lot digging, really working the compost in this bed. One robin was following me around all day waiting for grubs. It was so cute. He would get within a couple of feet of me watching, waiting. I’d throw the grub on the sidewalk, he’d gobble it up and come back for more!

  21. irishgirl says:

    Wow-great pictures, Fr. Z!

    Love the ‘comment’ by the goldfinch!

    I’d wish the robins would come to my driveway after a rainstorm-I get lots of worms!

  22. Fr. Bj says:

    Irish: One robin was following me around all day waiting for grubs. It was so cute. He would get within a couple of feet of me watching…

    That’s the funny thing about Robins. Out of all of the birds we have here hanging around the church, the only one that doesn’t fly away as soon as I walk near is the Robin. Most of the time they stay right where they are an look at me. They are not afraid!

  23. Did you know that there is no way to tell the difference between a male and a female robin, even a male robin can’t tell the difference, only the female. Betcha didn’t know THAT!!! – Blessings – Rene

  24. dymphna says:

    Our Virginia robins are very shy. You can get within a few
    feet and they’ll either walk or fly away.

  25. Supetradmom says:

    Love the Goldfinch comment. Did you translate that?

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