Robins in the Winter?

I've never seen a robin in the winter, let alone heard one sing in the fridged weather, until this year. I, along with I'm sure many others, always assumed that the robins flew south for the winter, and only reappeared to announce that spring would be arriving shortly around the March/April time period. In the last few weeks I have observed more and more of these little red-breasted fellows roosting in the trees outside our office building. They even go so far as to sing a little in the cold morning air as I arrive for the 9:00am work day. This starts my day off great, however doesn't carry the mood into the building, which is unfortunate.

I want to tell these little guys, "You're not suppose to be here yet - don't you know it's still minus 15 celsius??!!". I want to give them little boots, a hat and perhaps a scarf to keep the chill off, because God knows a tree lacking leaves offers little protection from the elements. I want to invite them in the office, for tea and cookies, for warmth, and also for the entertainment value.

Perplexed by these early spring symbols, I decided to find out what the heck was going on. To my surprise, most robins will migrate to the southern regions for the long, long winter months, but not all of them partake in this vacation (I suppose the economy may have something to do with this, high fuel prices, jacked up flight prices and all). Apparently robins migrate more in a reaction to food supply as opposed to the change in seasonal lows. The ones that move further south are offered the opportunity of higher ratios of sustenance, but the ones who spread out in a more northern area, moving here and there, experience an average/low food volume. But, because the birds have spread out, it does leave a little more eats for one bird in a larger area. Robins, as most birds and animals, unless they're hibernating, need more food in the winter months when remaining in the cold in order to keep their bodies maintained properly for the climate. The spread of the birds in the winter months allows for this, which is why some may remain. If all the robins decided they'd take a year off from the sunny south vacationing, there wouldn't be enough food to maintain the population, hence the spread.

I still want to give them winter gear...bear legs in the snow, oooohhh, I can't imagine.

For more information and some charts on robin movement check out this website.