Of Robins and Blackbirds... two hundred plus years ago, when the avifauna of this continent was being newly described to Western science, the describers were all European. They looked for similarities to what was familiar to them, and here's what we got... They had a robin so we got a robin (unrelated), they had a blackbird so we got a blackbird (unrelated). However OUR robin is related to THEIR blackbird. The family to which their robin belongs does not live in the Americas and the family to which our blackbird belongs lives ONLY in the Americas. Fun stuff. (Sizes are fairly accurate)

UL: European Robin, Erithacus rubecula; UR: American Robin, Turdus migratorius
LL: Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus; LR: Eurasian Blackbird, Turdus merula

Jorge has been having pretty good luck in his mini-quest to photograph all of the raptors of Horsebarn Hill. This one, however, was a big surprise. The Peregrine Falcon is not a regular visitor to the hill, though it is certainly found in many places in Connecticut. When it was up in this treetop, nothing else moved - even the starling flocks were quiet - the supreme aerial predator had arrived...

Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus, Horsebarn Hill, Storrs Connecticut

Continuing with yesterday's family - and a "plus one". Monday's sketch was a few North American representatives and today I went to Europe. The Eurasian Blue Tit we saw a few places, this particular one in Elantxobe in the Basque Country of Spain. The Sombre Tit was foraging on wild fruits near Sofia Bulgaria, as was the Long-tailed Tit. Just to be clear, the latter is the Plus-one, not a member of the Paridae, but of the Aegithalidae, though it shares the habits, the look and hence the name - Tit.

Eurasian Blue Tit, Cyanistes cyaneus, Elantxobe Spain
Sombre Tit, Poecile lugubris, Sofia Bulgaria
Long-tailed Tit, Aegithalos caudatus, Sofia Bulgaria

We see the American Robin in winter wherever there are fruiting trees, and usually they come in numbers, eat up all the fruit then move on. The bird Jorge photographed was part of one such flock that he found on campus this afternoon - and by the strong coloring, it's an adult male.

American Robin, Turdus migratorius
Storrs, Connecticut

AiA Photo-Sketch Challenge

Day 21 - Most days, I get out for a walk at lunchtime, and usually with my binoculars along. Most days I see this guy too - the very familiar robin.

American Robin (Turdus migratorius). Colored Pencil
January 21, 2015. Hamden, Connecticut, USA.

Jorge's after-work outing took him back to the manure piles behind the barns on campus. The ever-present starlings were again, present, and also this sparrow.

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) male.
January 21, 2015. UConn Campus, Storrs, Connecticut, USA.