Robin flocks

It's been busy at the hollies over the last few days.

Large numbers of robins (200+) have been devouring the berries on the row of Ilex opaca cultivar hollies above the education building at the garden where I work. They visit the hollies, collect berries, then retreat nearby to eat them, then repeat.

This morning, in rain, before I began a program, the circuit from holly to perching trees nearby  (in this case, large Cryptomeria and Southern Magnolia) was in full swing.  Their continuous melodic murmurs were more than evident outside, but at a lower level from inside the building.

a robin eating fruit (from a royalty-free photo used in The Nature of Clemson)

The year-round vegetable gardening class participants were fascinated, and we peered outside for a bit before we started the class. 

By the end of the morning, the flock had moved to the lower row of hollies (also Ilex opaca cultivars) below the nature center (the lower level of the building), presumably finished with the upper row after 4 days of feasting.

(This is a duplicate post from Natural Gardening).

American Robin behavior

We've had unusually large flocks of robins over the last few week devouring holly berries in various parts of the Garden.

Here's a report from Journey North about robin behavior; we're seeing what other folks are seeing all over the Eastern U.S.

Robin flocking behavior

The feeding frenzy outside my office window is continuing this morning, with large robin flocks also feeding on the hollies at the entrance to Garden. There's a continuous murmur of bird calls. Remarkable.

Here's some more interesting information about robin flocking behavior from Journey North.