What Do Robins Eat in the Winter?

American Robin in a tree full of juniper berries

When I tell people that there are robins present in South Dakota throughout most winters, the first thing I am asked is, "Then why don't I see them?" The answer is that robins spend the winter in open wooded areas like cedar draws along the Missouri River, and most people don't go stomping around out there in the winter. The second thing I am asked is, "What do they eat?" The answer is, "Berries." Though robins feed on worms and insects during the spring and summer, they switch over to berries and fruit after the weather turns cold. One of their main winter foods around here is juniper berries. Junipers do not actually produce "berries." The tiny blue things you see on juniper trees are really "cones," but cones with unusually fleshy and merged scales. The robin in this picture was one of a group of several dozen that was foraging in a group of juniper trees on Farm Island yesterday.