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Erithacus rubecula
Around 12.5–14.0 cm (5.0–5.5 in) in length, the male and female are similar in color, with an orange breast and face lined with grey, brown upper parts and a whitish belly. The robin has a fluting, warbling song in the breeding season, when they often sing into the evening, and sometimes into the night. Nocturnal singing in urban robins occurs in places that are noisy during the day, suggesting that they sing at night because it is quieter, and their message can propagate through the environment more clearly. Both the male and female sing during the winter, when they hold separate territories, the song then sounding more plaintive than the summer version. The female robin moves a short distance from the summer nesting territory to a nearby area that is more suitable for winter feeding. The male keeps the same territory throughout the year. In autumn and winter, robins will supplement their usual diet of terrestrial invertebrates, such as spiders, worms and insects, with berries, fruit and seeds.
It is found across Europe, east to Western Siberia and south to North Africa; it is sedentary in most of its range except the far north.
Seen in a small park on Lake Geneva.
Spotted on Mar 8, 2012
Submitted on Mar 17, 2012
3 Comments
Lovely picture and bird =)
I had not realized how much smaller they are than American robins until I saw them in person! They are lovely little birds.
Probably my favorite bird ever! These little guys seem so at ease with people & I was regularly accompanied by one when I worked in my English garden - often searching for worms in the earth I had just turned inches from my trowel! They are also really feisty for such small birds & I often saw them see off much larger competition at the feeders - even the great spotted woodpecker that was many times their size!