Despite their scientific name (Turdus migratorius), American Robin migration is hard to figure out. They can be entirely migratory, resident, or something in between. Emily Williams, a Georgetown University PhD student, is in our Northeast Florida area studying which robins migrate, when they decide to leave, and where they go. Emily’s research can tell us a lot about migration as a whole and provide insight into how birds respond to environmental change. Robins in this project will carry tracking tags that transmit locations throughout the year.

How to participate in this project next year: Emily and her team will visit your yard multiple times during the breeding season (late April through the end of July) to band and tag robins as well as search for robin nests and color-banded birds. If you would like to have your yard be a part of this study, we ask that participants help monitor nests, find additional nests, and keep an eye out for their banded robins.

Outcomes: We will provide you with the locations provided by the tags so you can keep up with where your robin is throughout the year!

Emily’s work will help us better understand the mysteries behind migration and will eventually appear in several scientific journals. For a teaser on this research so far, check out articles in the Associated Press here and here.

You can learn lots more about the study here. If interested, please reach out to Emily at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

~ Guest Contributor Emily J. Williams, PhD Student, Georgetown University