American Robin

Turdus migratorius

Family:

Thrush

Size:

Medium

Visits:

Throughout the Year

Behavior:

Ground Feeders

American Robin Facts

A familiar harbinger of spring, American robins are best identified by their red breasts, white eye-rings, and yellow beaks. Robins can be found at BBG throughout the year: Look for them hopping along the ground seeking invertebrates or fruit. Listen for their continuous, melodious call; robins are among the first songbirds to start singing in the morning, and some of the last chirping as evening falls.

Size:

10" long

Markings:

Red-orange underside, which is duller in females. White throat and brownish-gray back, wings, and tail. Head is gray to black, with white eye-ring and yellow bill. Eggs are light blue and juveniles have spotted breasts.

Habitat:

Robins can be found throughout North America in gardens, parks, forests, farmland, and urban areas. They nest in trees, shrubs, and hedges.

Behavior:

Females build nests from grass and twigs daubed with mud in shrubs or other sheltered areas, usually 8 to 12 feet off the ground. Robins pair, nest, and breed from April to July, raising two or three broods of three to five chicks. During the breeding season, robins are territorial; in the winter, they are more social and gather in large flocks to roost in trees.

Diet:

Worms, grubs, grasshoppers, and other invertebrates; fruit and berries.

Vocals:

Robins sing a complex and melodious carol from dawn to dusk, often from a high perch, during their song period of April to September. They also have a number of calls, such as a tut tut tut to warm off predators.