Robin Among Starlings

Late last fall I thought I was taking a picture of (part of) a flock of European Starlings, and that's mostly who was up there. When I got home though I saw an infiltrator/visitor in their midst, an American Robin.

Both these species like to flock, but there are differences. European Starlings will sometimes team up with grackles and blackbirds to form those massive flocks of small birds you sometimes notice from far away.

I'm not sure how big a robin flock can get. Though I frequently see them together, I usually see them in smaller groups like 2-15 robins. My impression is that if there are other birds around, it's more of a coincidence than birds actually flocking with the robins, though it's difficult to know how the birds consider each other.

My impression is that starlings are frequently bullies around bird feeders, but I don't see robins at feeders a lot so it's difficult to know how these species interact. And generally speaking, birds like being in groups that give them a lot of eyes to watch out for predators; it's possible that the starlings welcome the robin's extra set of eyes.

November 21, 2021 at Duke Farms
Photo 170813668, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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