Wisconsin Ornithology
This series highlights several of my favorite birds, all of which can be found in Wisconsin. I have found all of the birds included in the series (with one exception). Each cache is somehow related to the highlighted bird. In many cases you will find hints to finding the cache in the information provided about each bird. Each cache is hidden in roughly the environment the bird can be found. None of the caches are hidden in a nesting box or a fake nest (with one exception of a very non-standard nest), so if you find a nest or nesting box—please leave it alone it has nothing to do with the cache.
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
I don’t ever remember learning to identify a Robin. By the time I was 5 or 6 and learning to identify birds, the Robin was already a familiar friend. Indeed the American Robin is friends with, or at least a casual acquaintance with most people living in North America. For most of us the Robin is a neighbor living in the tree nextdoor, or in the front flowerbox and a regular diner on our front lawn. Perhaps because the Robin was such a friend to so many of us, it was chosen as the State Bird of Wisconsin.
Our American Robin was named after the European Robin. While both birds are friendly familiar friends to gardeners and residents of towns and villages and both birds have a red breast, the two birds are otherwise quite distinct. The European Robin is a small bird about the size of the House Wren. The American Robin is almost 4 inches larger than its European name sake. Our Robin is a member of the Thrush family and is totally unrelated to the European version.
The first Robin of the year is frequently seen as a sign of spring. However, while Robins do migrate with the seasons, a surprising number of Robins actually winter in their breeding range. However, because their feeding patterns change considerably they are less frequently observed in the winter. During the winter Robins leave our lawns and the city and suburban environments for large roosting colonies in wooded areas. Some of these large colonies can reach a quarter of a million birds. The Robin also gives up its search for worms in our now frozen lawns and lives almost exclusively on fruit and berries. However, it does appear that the wormier the fruit, the more the Robin enjoys it.
Perhaps no other song bird is more frequently observed nesting than the Robin. Children and adults enjoy spying on the eggs in Robin’s nest and waiting to see the young hatchlings. However, life is cruel for the Robin. Only 40% of nests successfully produce young that live long enough to leave the nest. Of these young, only 25% will live into November. And of the Robins alive in November, only half will be alive in a year. Despite this shockingly high mortality, the Robin continues to thrive and flourish.
To claim this find, you must sign the log. The cache itself should be easy to spot, but retrieving the log will require solving a simple field puzzle. The lid of the cache box will have instructions. There is a nesting box a short distance from the cache—Please leave the nesting box alone! The cache might at first look like a nesting box, but it is clearly labeled as a cache and there is no opening for a nesting bird.
This cache is located in The Town Park. Permission for placement has been approved by Steve Root Chairman of the Town of Oregon Parks Commission.
The Park is open from Dawn to Dusk.