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Q: When robins migrate south for the winter, do they build nests? What do they do all day?

A: Robins build nests to lay eggs and raise their young only in springtime and not during migration, according to Russell Greenberg of the Smithsonian Institution’s Migratory Bird Center. In their winter homes in the southern United States, Mexico and Guatemala, they spend most of their time eating, particularly small berries. When they return to their summer homes, they eat mainly worms and insects, which have the high protein content needed by baby birds.