American Robin Facts
What Robins look like
- Robins have a reddish orange chest
- The colors of the male are usually brighter than the female
- The adult male robin has a black head; the female has a grayish-brown head (see photo)
- The short beak is yellow with a dark tip
- They have white crescents around their eyes
- Adult male and female robins are about the same size
- Robins are medium size birds in the thrush family
- The body is grayish –brown with dark tail feathers and a white rump
Sound
- Robins make a musical whistled phrase,
"cheerily, cheer up, cheer up, cheerily, cheer up."
- The males sing in the early morning and late afternoon.
Nesting
- The robin egg is about the size of a quarter (see photo)
- The color of the eggs are robin egg blue (light blue)
- Females lay 2 to 4 eggs
- A female robin builds a nest out of grass and small twigs held together with mud
- Robins build nests in trees, bushes, hedges, or on houses
- The bowl-shaped nest is about 6 inches across
- The inside of the nest is about 4 inches in diameter which is big enough to hold a softball
- The nest is built 5 ft to 25 ft above the ground
- The nest is usually protected from rain and predators
Development
- Once the eggs are laid, it takes 11 to 14 days to hatch
- The adult female sits on the nest to incubate the eggs
- The eggs hatch within a day or two of each other
- Nestlings are pink with little tufts of feathers after they hatch (see photo)
- Nestlings eyes are closed when they hatch and they have blue bulges where their eye will develop
- The eyes of nestlings open when they are about five days old
- Nestlings have really long necks and short featherless wings
- Nestlings take about two weeks to develop feathers before
leaving the nest
- Once they leave the nest, young robins are called fledglings
Diet – What Robins Eat
- Robins eat berries, worms and insects
- Fruit is the main diet during winter
- Nestlings are fed earthworms and berries
- More than one hundred chokecherry seeds were found
under a robin’s nest with three nestlings inside.
- Robins hunt for worms in yards and gardens
Questions and Answers
How long do they live?
- Robins usually live for six years, but can live up to 14 years
Can young robins fly?
- Yes, they can fly but not that well because they haven’t fully developed their tail and wing feathers.
Where do they sleep?
- Robins perch in trees, bushes or hedges when they sleep.
Where are they found?
- American Robins live in the United States year round. Migrating robins breed in Canada in the summer and roost in Mexico during the winter.
References
- All About Birds – American Robin
- American Robin Blog
- Journey North – American Robin
- Wikipedia – American Robin en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Robin
- The Singing Life of Birds: The Art and Science of Listening to Birdsong by Donald Kroodsma, Houghton Mifflin, 2005
Photos
Photos © Henry and Tim Knight
American Robin Facts
By Henry Knight
Common Name: American Robin
Scientific Name: Turdus migratorius
American Robin Turdus migratorius
