Wintering Suburban Thrushes

     At least six wintering American robins have scratched for invertebrates and seeds in loose soil under a clump of three bushes on our lawn for the last several late afternoons in December of 2016.
I've never seen robins do that before on our lawn in winter, which peaked my interest.  Robins' adapting to different habitats and food sources has made them successful as a species, including in that little niche. 
     Robins, which are a kind of thrush, probably lived and nested in woodland clearings originally.  But as European colonists cleared the forests to create fields, robin populations increased in an ever-expanding environment they were preadapted to, which led to their great success as a species.
     Today robins commonly nest on suburban lawns that have shrubbery and young trees.  There each female builds a mud and grass cradle in a fork of a bush or tree.  But after their breeding season, robins gather in flocks, some of which go south for the winter, while others stay north, including here in southeastern Pennsylvania.
     Robins wintering in the north usually live by eating crab apples and a variety of berries, including those on hawthorns, multiflora rose, barberries, bittersweet and hollies.  But they also consume invertebrates when and where they can get them in winter, including digging for them with their toe nails in unfrozen ground.
     A few beautiful eastern bluebirds were in our suburban neighborhood on December 10, 2016, which was an exciting first sighting of them here.  In fact, I never saw bluebirds in a suburb before.  They were in our neighborhood because they were eating red berries from a barberry bush against the next door neighbors' house.  Eastern bluebirds, like robins, probably lived and nested in woodland openings and have adapted to and benefited from farmland, where they consume invertebrates in warmer months and berries in winter.  There they nest in holes in lone trees, fence post hollows and bird boxes erected for them.  And in winter, little groups of bluebirds pile into some of those same cavities to spend winter nights sharing body heat and surviving.
     And just a few years ago, many wintering hermit thrushes, which is a kind of spot-breasted thrush, visited bird feeders near shrubbery throughout the United States, including one wintering hermit in our back yard.  It was an interesting lone bird with its characteristic tail pumping and foot tapping.  And that hermit stayed among shrubbery all winter, and scratched up invertebrates, and seeds fallen to the ground from our bird feeder in the midst of protective bushes.
     Those few wintering species of the thrush family have made our lawn more exciting and memorable.  Traveling to see birds is fun and exciting, but, I think, no more so than those species seen at home.  And, at home, we have the advantage of studying and enjoying birds daily and more intimately.