Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Fledgling robin with radio transmitter
chipmunks, ermine, and Douglas squirrels were the most likely predators.
The most notorious of all bird predators, the out-of-the-house cat, was impli-
cated in only one death, though we could never be entirely sure which mam-
mal or which bird had killed the l edgling. (The rarity of cat predation in our
study is courtesy of the coyote, a frequent resident of our neighborhoods that
has a fondness for felines.) Deaths of young birds, just as we had found with
adults, occurred most frequently in the forest and rarely in the surrounding
yards. We saw no evidence of young birds being run over by cars, shot by
kids, or killed on impact with windows.
The young survivors did not wait for the grim reaper. They moved out.
One recently l edged robin traveled more than half a mile in a single day. It
must have hopped and walked most of that distance! Robins and Swainson's
