🐾 American Robin

American Robin

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Who it is

• Scientific name: Turdus migratorius
• Family & relatives: A songbird in the thrush family Turdidae, related to blackbirds and other thrushes around the world.
• How to spot it: A plump songbird with a warm orange-red breast, a dark gray back, a yellow beak, and white around the eyes.

Its body & abilities

• Size: About 23 to 28 cm long from beak to tail.
• Weight: Usually 77 to 85 g (about 3 ounces).
• Body & adaptations: Strong legs help it hop and run on lawns, and sharp eyes let it spot worms just under the grass.
• Top speed: A capable flier that can reach about 30 to 55 km/h (20 to 35 mph).
• Strength: A champion traveler, it can migrate hundreds of kilometers each spring and fall.
• Senses: Sharp eyesight and good hearing that help it find worms, partly by watching for tiny movements in the soil.
• Growing up: Chicks hatch blind and featherless, are fed by both parents, and leave the nest in about two weeks.

Where it lives

• Habitat: Lawns, gardens, parks, farms, and woodlands, wherever there is open ground and trees.
• Where in the world: Across North America, from Canada and Alaska down to Mexico, moving south in winter.
• Territory: A pair defends a nesting territory in spring but gathers in large flocks in winter.

What it eats

• Diet: An omnivore that eats worms and insects in the warm months and berries in fall and winter.
• Favorite foods: Earthworms, insects, and caterpillars, plus many kinds of berries and fruit.
• How it hunts: It hops across the lawn, pauses to tilt its head, then pulls up a worm from the ground.

How it behaves

• How it moves: Hops and runs on the ground, then flies in smooth, direct swoops between trees.
• When it is active: Active by day, singing loudest at dawn and settling in trees to roost at night.
• Family life: Nests as pairs in spring but gathers in large, chattering flocks during fall and winter.
• How it talks: Sings a cheerful, warbling song and uses sharp chirps to warn of danger.
• Babies: The female builds a cup nest of mud and grass and lays three to five sky-blue eggs, which hatch in about two weeks.

Its place in nature

• Role in nature: It spreads seeds from berries and controls insects; hawks, cats, and snakes are its main predators.
• Conservation: Listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, one of the most common and widespread birds in North America.
• Dangers: Dies mainly from predators, cold weather, window collisions, and disease.

Life & legacy

• How long it lives: Often about 2 years in the wild, though some live to around 13 years.
• In our culture: A beloved sign of spring in North America, and the state bird of Michigan, Connecticut, and Wisconsin.
• Where to see it: On lawns, in gardens, and in parks across North America, especially in spring and summer.
• Fun fact: The robin's bright blue eggs gave their name to a color, 'robin's-egg blue'.