Worm Thoughts on a Cold Day: Part 1

I’m learning about the American Robin. 

American Robin, photo: Steve Dudley

A collective of American robins is called a worm of robins. 

I prefer a round of robins, but I understand that is reserved more for the European Robin, which is a completely different species. 

I suppose a “worm of robins” is a nod to the birds’ relationship with worms as a primary food source. 

Robins like to hang out on the ground, and when they cock their heads it seems like they are looking and listening with x-ray senses for worms underground. A lot of the time, they are not looking for the actual worm, but for the movement of the dirt as the worm rustles his way around.

But then I read that if it’s below 36 degrees, the ground is too frozen and the worms can’t make their way out. I suppose that’s why a lot of northern robins migrate south in the winter.

Here in Texas, it’s going to get below 36 degrees this weekend. That’s virtually an ice age.  What will the robins do now?

A robin,Turdus migratorius with w:Worms, by The Brockenglory in Wikimedia Commons