Bob Barrett asked: "Or do robins eat berries in the winter throughout the continent?" I don't know about the rest of the continent, but down here in southwest Florida we have been seeing a staggering number of American Robins this winter in huge flocks. Some winters we get only a handful but this winter surpasses the numbers we saw down here in 2005 -- our last big invasion year for AMROs. Last week, I had an estimated 25,000 AMROs in my yard here in Naples. Many were singing. It sounded like springtime in Cleveland where I used to live! Some birders have reported flocks of 500,000 robins in their area! Southwest Florida is home to one of the three big exotic invasives: Brazilian Pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius). The other two are Melaleuca and Australian Pine. Anyway, the AMROs found here this winter have been gorging themselves on the Brazilian Pepper berries. Last week, when the 25,000 were in my yard, they completely denuded the Brazilian Peppers surrounding the development where I live. I went outside to photograph the phenomenon and it was literally "raining" pepper berry seeds! You could actually hear them dropping on the ground and they would stick to my exposed arms, etc. Undoubtedly, there will be an increase in this invasive exotic plant in the coming years due to the AMROs. Mixed in with the American Robins were far lesser numbers of Cedar Waxwings. I keep looking for a Bohemian among them, which would be the first record for the state if one were to be found. No luck so far, but it will happen sooner or later I'm sure. . . . Vincent Lucas Naples, FL [log in to unmask] http://www.flickr.com/photos/leppyone/ http://www.caloosabirdclub.org ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]