It must have been the unaccustomed cold February weather in Houston, 4°C with a strong windchill. This American Robin just stayed still as we walked by, allowing an easy photograph.
From the distribution map at the above reference, Houston is at the northerly end of this migratory bird’s winter range – so it may well have been struggling with the cold.
Like everything in the US, the American Robin is larger than the robins we have in the UK (European Robin). Although its red breast is remarkably similar, this American bird is actually not a robin in the European sense, but a member of the thrush family.
Distribution map by Ken Thomas via Wikimedia Commons
I can't believe it! 
American robins always look like British blackbirds in fancy dress, wearing a grey frock coat and red waistcoat.
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(American) robins actually aren’t usually skitterish for people or cameras. And, amazingly, every year a few don’t migrate from where we live in eastern Canada. I wrote this post about one who stopped by our house last month when it was about -15C!
http://robbyrobinsjourney.wordpress.com/2018/01/09/birds-really-do-migrate-by-plane-sometimes
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Whoops. Or,
http://robbyrobinsjourney.wordpress.com/2018/01/09/birds-really-do-migrate-by-airplane-sometimes
🙂
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Thanks for your comment. Amazing that some don’t migrate from such a cold area.
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I know. It makes us feel cold just watching them. They seem to eat juniper berries and hover in cedar groves and, I should imagine, wonder why they’re still here and all their robin friends have left!
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We keep flocks of robins around all throughout the winter, which makes me wonder why we say it is a sign of spring…I live in the mid-atlantic region, mild, but still cold. I absolutely love the European robin…it is so adorable!
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Thanks for your comment. It seems the Wikipedia migration map for robins may not be strictly accurate. I guess being near the sea keeps it mild enough to persuade them to stay.
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