The Breeze has regularly reported the first robin sighting of the calendar year in hope that spring is on the way. The notion that robins are a harbinger of warmer weather, however, is not supported by science.

That said, a wave of robins numbering 16 or more visited the Ranch (the home of the Breeze) on January 2nd. We have not seen any hop, hop, hopping or bob, bob, bobbing since the temperatures dipped into the teens this last weekend.

Robins are year round residents of West Virginia and are only seen in large numbers when a food source is available. The red breasted avians are not seen in locales which experience extended periods of snow cover because earthworms are not available as a food source. During the coldest periods of winter, a robin’s diet consists mainly of berries which are available in wooded areas.

While some robins migrate, the appearance of a large number in this area does not mean that they are out-of-state visitors. Waves of robins appear whenever yummy earthworms are present.

Waves of robins will reappear when the weather warms and after the present snow covering disappears. We are hopeful that winter weather will disappear such that robin sightings cease to be news.