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If you hear a robin singing, does that mean spring is on its way?

Many Ohioans are reporting hearing robins singing in the morning already.

OTTAWA COUNTY, Ohio — Have you heard them? 

A lot of folks say they're hearing robins starting to sing outside.

But does that mean spring is already on the way?

Across Ohio, reports are coming in of robins beginning to sing their morning songs in mid February.

Robins are nicknamed "The harbingers of spring," but what does that mean?

Mark Shieldcastle is the research director at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory and said more and more song birds are showing up not because it's warmer this week, but because the days are getting longer.

He said migratory birds fully rely on daylight to measure when they begin flying back north.

But, because this winter was a mild one, the birds didn't need to fly as far south, so you may be noticing them a little earlier than expected as they are flying back north.

"We're into mid-February now, migration has started. We're seeing a lot more red wing blackbirds coming back, some of the ducks are starting to come back. Because of the soft winter like this, a lot of birds didn't any father than here," said Shieldcastle.

And with these local bird migrations starting to pick up in February, that means we're only a few month away from the 2020 Biggest Week in American Birding

It officially kicks off at Magee Marsh on March 8.

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