We went from about a dozen robins to about 35 robins in the last several days. Everything froze over, then multiple inches of snow, freezing rain, sleet, and repeat. Robins were doing pretty well on worms. Now they eat a lot of seeds. The problem seems to be they are not digesting those seeds. Sunflower hearts come out in the stool intact. At this point I'm not sure what they are getting but they do seem to be suffering even though my bird feeding has ramped up astronomically so birds could get enough to survive the low temps and frozen foodstocks. They either don't have effective crops for seeds or don't have enough grit. So, I added another bag of crushed oyster shell to the yard for grit.

Sunflower and other seeds intact from robin stool





I've been noticing them sitting on both feet to cover them and even not wanting to budge just inches from me. I figured they were struggling.

Today while downtown, I noticed a robin doing the same and hunkered down. It wasn't moving but was sitting there. I jumped out and with a little effort scooped her up and put her in my car. I have a bird cage but had to run by the pet feed store. They are out of a lot. Anyway, after spending more than I'd planned, I rushed home, got her in the cage and put in food and water with Lafeber's Avi-Era Bird Vitamins. Unfortunately she went to sleep almost immediately when I got her inside and the live mealworms and water are untouched. Fingers crossed she makes it through the night. The room she is in is about 65F which she hasn't seen for a while.

Rescued American robin female in the holding cage. She tucked her head and went to sleep within just a couple of minutes after placing her in the room. I was still putting in food and water about an inch from her and she never even woke up. Hoping she's stronger in the morning.

My robins have been washing in the just melted parts of snow melt, flipping over pinecones and other things in this wetness to find insects. They just cannot digest seeds at all. Wish I had a worm farm for Spring here. But the cardinals, bluejays, and woodpeckers are in the same boat. I have more varieties of birds than ever before, tho it feels like the squirrels are what are getting fat. I also am planning on making a mealworm feeder soon, but this week should be done with soon. Hope your Robin lives. Also been trying to id some of these tiny birds and need better eyes apparently, chuckl.

Urban, must be heartbreaking to watch. Thoughts for both of you, and to you and your brood, Kat

Alas, the female robin died during the night.I knew it was serious but held out hope. C'est la vie ... et la mort.

Upon further inspection, all of the stool left in the cage last night seems to have the characteristic yellow of salmonella. After I take a few pictures I'm about to bag the body and start decon of the cage and equipment.

BTW, I should note that yellowish stool could come from other things like poisoning or other issues the bird was having but I operate under the precautionary principle so bag and decon is prudent.

Absolutely. Advice from a vet I once knew, chuckl, if it isn't yours, DON'T pick it up, ya dunno what is making it sick and you could kill your daughter by picking it up. So I quit. Still have my daughter. Clean it up, sanitize and let it sit 6 months and rest. Sorry it didn't recover tho.

I'll still rescue. I am done with the bag, cage disassembly and decon. I did bust a couple of the plastic corner pieces though.

I tried mealworms one year in my window feeders (the dried ones), and actually had robins come up to the windows to feed on them one year when we had late snows. They weren't very expensive either, I got them from Amazon. You might try those for the robins if seeds aren't something they can easily digest.

I have been feeding mealworms but sporadically. It I don't, starlings move in and hoover up everything. It takes me scattering them and standing there for 15 mins and even then the starlings are trying to move in wherever possible.

The good part is that we are thawing. Parts of the ground were exposed today and since we're going to be above freezing overnight and rain is moving in, there should be opportunity for more worm foraging for them.

Everyone ignored the mealworms when I tried them. Gotta get to the store today, out of the seeds. I have a cat on the back porch and a cat on the front porch monitoring for slow birds and squirrels. Shake my head, I hate to disappoint them, but I hope the birds keep vigilance.