Sometimes love manifests itself in small, winged packages.
Joan never imagined that a walk through the Upper East Side would lead her to The Wild Bird Fund with a pair of birds in tow. While taking a walk on January 17, after winter once again graced the city with a snow storm, she spotted two robins huddled together on a snow bank at East 73rd and Third Avenue. “They were puffed up, hypo-thermic and totally still. I picked them both up without a fight,” Joan said.
Joan brought the robins to The Wild Bird Fund where examinations and radiographs revealed that the male robin had a humeral fracture of the wing, preventing him from flying. The female robin, however, was perfectly fine. She was simply staying with her mate. We also suspect that she was bringing food to him as neither robin was starving when they came in.
Since arriving at The Wild Bird Fund, the male robin’s wing has healed and he is flying again. The couple will stay at The Wild Bird Fund until the male robin is deemed “flying fit.” In the meantime, the pair is enjoying romantic meals of mealworms and insect pate, and will probably be released later this week.
About Robins
- The American Robin is a member of the thrush family, and is the official state bird of Connecticut, Michigan and Wisconsin.
- Robins are monogamous during the breeding season, and it’s the female who chooses the mate.
- A robin’s average life span is approximately six years, although they can live up to 14 years.
- There is no definitive answer as to why some robins choose not to migrate in the winter, but in New York, there are plenty of berries and other fruit to keep the birds fed through the season.
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