American Robin fills the role of Blackbird in the States, except I'd say that it is far more numerous in any given area - or at least the area I was in, the mid-west. They forage in the same way as Blackbirds, and even sound pretty like them. Of course they're not a Robin at all, and are only named that due to the red breast reminding settlers of the bird back home (I presume) - it's a Turdus species just like Blackbird. Although I was definitely not on a birding holiday, I did have my gear with me - given how many images I got I rather regret carting it some 20,000 miles most of the way around the world - so decided to try a few sneaky shots when the family weren't looking. Here are a few of them. I've been away for a whole two weeks, and have decent photos of perhaps ten species. Sometimes you have to do something different I suppose, and it's been good for me to not be totally obsessed by birds for a while - there are other things out there!