{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{EngvarB|date=August 2023}} {{Good article}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}} {{Speciesbox | image = Erithacus rubecula with cocked head.jpg | image2 = Pechuguero de Gran Canaria (Erithacus Rubecula Marionae).ogg | image2_caption = Song recorded in Gran Canaria | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2018 |title=''Erithacus rubecula'' |volume=2018 |article-number=e.T22709675A131953953 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22709675A131953953.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref> | genus = Erithacus | parent_authority = | species = rubecula | authority = (Linnaeus, 1758) | subdivision_ranks = Subspecies | subdivision = 7–10, see text. | synonyms = {{Species list | Erithacus dandalus subsp. sardus | Kleinschmidt, 1906 | Erithacus rubecula subsp. armoricanus | Lebeurier & Rapine, 1936 | Erithacus rubecula subsp. sardus | Kleinschmidt, 1906 | Motacilla rubecula | Linnaeus, 1758 }} | synonyms_ref = <ref>{{GBIF |id=2492462 |taxon=''Erithacus rubecula'' |accessdate=21 January 2022}}</ref> | range_map = ErithacusRubeculaIUCN.svg | range_map_caption = Range of ''E rubecula''{{leftlegend|#00FF00|Breeding|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#008000|Resident|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#007FFF|Non-breeding|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#FF80FF|Introduced and probably extinct|outline=gray}} }}
The '''European robin''' ('''''Erithacus rubecula'''''), known simply as the '''robin''' or '''robin redbreast''' in the British Isles, is a small insectivorous passerine bird belonging to the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae.<ref name=ioc/> It is found across Europe, as far east as Western Siberia, and as far south as North Africa. It is sedentary in the west and south of its range, and migratory in the north and east of its range where winters are harsher.
It is {{convert|12.5|–|14.0|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length. The male and female are identical in plumage, with an orange-toned red breast and face lined with grey, brown upper-parts and a whitish belly. Juveniles are distinct, being freckled brown all over and lacking the red breast. First-winter immatures resemble the adults, except they have more obvious yellow-brown tips to the wing covert feathers, which are inconspicuous or absent in adults.
== Etymology == The distinctive orange breast of both sexes contributed to the European robin's original name of "redbreast". The word ''orange'' did not become a recognised colour name in English until the 16th century, by which time the fruit of the same name had been introduced. Other names for the bird in different languages also refer to its distinctive colouring: Czech ''červenka'', Dutch {{lang|nl|roodborstje}}, French {{lang|fr|rouge-gorge}}, Swedish ''rödhake'', German {{lang|de|Rotkehlchen}}, Italian {{lang|it|pettirosso}}, Spanish {{lang|es|petirrojo}}, Hungarian ''vörösbegy'', and Portuguese {{lang|pt|pisco-de-peito-ruivo}}.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Holland, J.|title=Bird Spotting|publisher=Blandford|year=1965|location=London, UK|page=225}}</ref>
In the 15th century, when it became popular to give human names to familiar species, the bird came to be known as ''robin redbreast'', which was eventually shortened to ''robin''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lack|first=D.|title=Robin Redbreast|publisher=Oxford, Clarendon Press|year=1950|location=Oxford|page=44}}</ref> As a given name, Robin is originally a diminutive of the name Robert. The term ''robin'' is also applied to some birds in other families with red or orange breasts. These include the American robin (''Turdus migratorius'', a thrush) and the Australasian robins of the family Petroicidae, the relationships of which are unclear.
Other older English names for the bird include ''ruddock'' and ''robinet''. In American literature of the late 19th century, this robin was often referred to as the ''English robin''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sylvester|first=Charles H.|title=Journeys Through Bookland, Volume 2|publisher=Bellows-Reeve Company|place=Chicago|year=1909|page=254|url=https://archive.org/details/bwb_S0-AXA-671_2/page/254/mode/1up?q=robin}}</ref>
== Taxonomy and systematics == The European robin was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Motacilla rubecula''.<ref>{{Cite book | last=Linnaeus| first=Carolus | author-link=Carl Linnaeus|title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata.|publisher=Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii) | year=1758 | volume=1 |page=188 | language=la | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727097 | quote=M. grisea, gula pectoreque fulvis.}}</ref> Its specific epithet ''rubecula'' is a diminutive derived from the Latin {{lang|la|ruber}}, meaning 'red'.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Simpson|first=D.P.|title=Cassell's Latin Dictionary|publisher=Cassell Ltd.|year=1979|edition=5th|location=London, UK|page=883|isbn=978-0-304-52257-6}}</ref><ref>{{L&S|ruber|ref}}</ref> The genus ''Erithacus'' was described by French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1800, giving the bird its current binomial name ''E. rubecula''.<ref>{{ cite book | last1=Mayr | first1=Ernst | last2=Paynter | first2=Raymond A. Jr. | year=1964 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 10 | volume=10 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=32 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14486221 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | last=Cuvier | first=George | author-link=Georges Cuvier | year=1800 | title=Leçons d'anatomie comparée. Volume 1 | publisher=L'Institute National des Sciences et des Arts | at=Table 2 | url=http://docnum.u-strasbg.fr/cdm/ref/collection/coll13/id/175485 | language=fr }} (The year is given on the title page as "VIII" in the French Republican Calendar)</ref> The genus name ''Erithacus'' is from Ancient Greek<ref>{{LSJ|e)ri/qakos|ἐρίθακος|ref}}.</ref> and refers to an unknown bird, now usually identified as robin.<ref>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A. | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher=Christopher Helm | location = London, United Kingdom | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=149}}</ref>
The genus ''Erithacus'' was formerly classified as a member of the thrush family (Turdidae) but is now known to belong to the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. The genus formerly included the Japanese robin and the Ryukyu robin, but these east Asian species were shown in molecular phylogenetic studies to be more similar to a group of other Asian species than to the European robin;<ref>{{cite journal | last =Seki | first =Shin-Ichi| year =2006| title=The origin of the East Asian ''Erithacus'' robin, ''Erithacus komadori'', inferred from cytochrome ''b'' sequence data | journal = Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution| volume =39 | issue =3 | pages =899–905 | doi = 10.1016/j.ympev.2006.01.028 | pmid =16529957| bibcode =2006MolPE..39..899S}}</ref><ref name="sangster2010">{{cite journal | last1=Sangster | first1=G. | last2=Alström | first2=P. | last3=Forsmark | first3=E. | last4=Olsson | first4=U. | year=2010 | title=Multi-locus phylogenetic analysis of Old World chats and flycatchers reveals extensive paraphyly at family, subfamily and genus level (Aves: Muscicapidae) | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=57 | issue=1 | pages=380–392 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2010.07.008 | pmid=20656044 | bibcode=2010MolPE..57..380S }}</ref> in a reorganisation of the genera, the Japanese and the Ryukyu robins were moved to the resurrected genus ''Larvivora'' leaving the European robin as the sole extant member of ''Erithacus''.<ref name="ioc">{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | year=2016 | title=Chats, Old World flycatchers | work=World Bird List Version 6.2 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/chats/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union| access-date=20 May 2016 }}</ref> A 2010 phylogenetic analysis placed ''Erithacus'' in a subfamily (Cossyphinae Vigors, 1825, syn. Erithacinae G. R. Gray, 1846) which otherwise contained only African species, but its exact position with respect to the other species in that subfamily was not resolved.<ref name="sangster2010" /> More detailed analysis in 2023 confirmed it to be the sole European member of this tropical African subfamily, in which it is in a basal position.<ref name="Zhao2023">{{cite journal | last1=Zhao | first1=Min | last2=Gordon Burleigh | first2=J. | last3=Olsson | first3=Urban | last4=Alström | first4=Per | last5=Kimball | first5=Rebecca T. | title=A near-complete and time-calibrated phylogeny of the Old World flycatchers, robins and chats (Aves, Muscicapidae) | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=178 | date=2023 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107646 | doi-access=free | article-number=107646 | pmid=36265831 | bibcode=2023MolPE.17807646Z }}</ref>
=== Subspecies === Within their extensive Eurasian range, robins exhibit some variation, though not enough to constitute distinct populations that could be classified as subspecies.<ref name=Dietzen>{{cite journal|last1=Dietzen|first1=Christian|last2=Witt|first2=Hans-Hinrich|last3=Wink|first3=Michael|year=2003|title=The phylogeographic differentiation of the robin ''Erithacus rubecula'' on the Canary Islands revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequence data and morphometrics: evidence for a new robin taxon on Gran Canaria?|url=http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/institute/fak14/ipmb/phazb/pubwink/2003/3.2003.pdf|journal=Avian Science|volume=3|issue=2–3|pages=115–131}}</ref><ref name=Patzold95>{{Cite book|title=Das Rotkehlchen ''Erithacus rubecula''. Neue Brehm-Bücherei|author=Pätzold, R.|year=1995|publisher=Westarp Wissenschaften/Spektrum|location=Magdeburg/Heidelberg|isbn=978-3-89432-423-0|language=de}}</ref> Robin subspecies are mainly distinguished by forming resident populations on islands and in mountainous areas. The robin found in the British Isles and much of western Europe, ''Erithacus rubecula melophilus'', occurs as a vagrant in adjacent regions. ''E. r. witherbyi'' from northwest Africa, Corsica, and Sardinia closely resembles ''E. r. melophilus'' but has shorter wings.<ref name=Lack46>{{Cite journal|author=Lack, D.|year=1946|title=The Taxonomy of the Robin, ''Erithacus rubecula'' (Linnaeus)|journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club|volume=66|pages=55–64}}</ref> The northeasternmost birds, large and fairly washed-out in colour, are ''E. r. tataricus''. In the southeast of its range, ''E. r. valens'' of the Crimean Peninsula, ''E. r. caucasicus'' of the Caucasus and northern Transcaucasia, and ''E. r. hyrcanus'' southeastwards into Iran are generally accepted as significantly distinct.<ref name=Lack46 />
On Madeira and the Azores, the local population has been described as ''E. r. microrhynchos'', and although not distinct in morphology, its isolation seems to suggest the subspecies is valid (but see below).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/how-robins-became-the-birds-of-christmas/|title=How Robins Became the Birds of Christmas|first=Darren|last=Naish|website=Scientific American Blog Network}}</ref>
==== Canary Islands robins ==== thumb|Adult and juvenile Gran Canaria robins thumb|Tenerife robin ''Erithacus rubecula superbus'', Los Silos, Tenerife
The most distinctive birds are found in Gran Canaria (''E. r. marionae'') and Tenerife (''E. r. superbus''), which may be considered two distinct species or at least two different subspecies. They are readily distinguished by a white eye-ring, an intensely coloured breast, a grey line that separates the orange-red from the brown colouration, and the belly is entirely white.<ref>{{Cite book |editor=Cramp, S. |year=1988 |title=Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The Birds of the Western Palearctic. |volume=V. Tyrant Flycatchers to Thrushes |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=978-0-19-857508-5}}</ref><ref name="auto"/>
Cytochrome ''b'' sequence data and vocalisations<ref name=Bergmann>{{cite journal |last1=Bergmann |first1=H.H. |last2=Schottler |first2=B. |year=2001 |title=Tenerife robin ''Erithacus (rubecula) superbus'' – a species of its own? |journal=Dutch Birding |volume=23 |pages=140–146}}</ref> indicate that the Gran Canaria/Tenerife robins are indeed very distinct and probably derived from colonisation by mainland birds some 2 million years ago.{{efn| Although Dietzen ''et al.'' (2003) conclude that both the Tenerife and Gran Canaria populations are independently derived from mainland populations and should constitute two species or both be placed in ''E. rubecula'' as subspecies,<ref name=Dietzen/> their data does not allow for a definite conclusion.{{citation needed|date=March 2026}} The alternative explanation, that the robins of Tenerife were already distinct from those of Gran Canaria when the island was colonised, has not been explored, and the proposed model relies only on probabilistic inference. Similarly, the molecular dating appears precise, but it assumes a molecular clock that may or may not be accurate. Further, the assumption that the ancestor of all robins was similar in colour to ''superbus'' and not the continental birds is, being inferred from their model of colonisation, entirely conjectural.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}} }}
In 2003, Christian Dietzen, Hans-Hinrich Witt and Michael Wink published a study in ''Avian Science'' entitled "The phylogeographic differentiation of the European robin ''Erithacus rubecula'' on the Canary Islands revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequence data and morphometrics: evidence for a new robin taxon on Gran Canaria?".<ref name=Dietzen/> In it, they concluded that the robins on Gran Canaria diverged genetically from their European relatives as far back as 2.3 million years, while the Tenerife ones took another half a million years to make this leap, 1.8 million years ago. The most likely reason is that this bird colonised the Canary Islands in a different way, arriving at the oldest island first (Gran Canaria) and then moving on to the neighbouring island (Tenerife).<ref name="canarias7.es">{{cite news |first1=César-Javier |last1=Palacios |year=2006 |title=Hallazgo en Gran Canaria de una especie de petirrojo única en el mundo |language=es |trans-title=Discovery in Gran Canaria of a species of robin unique in the world |newspaper=Newspaper Canarias 7 |url=http://www.canarias7.es/articulo.cfm?Id=36465 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307001055/http://www.canarias7.es/articulo.cfm?Id=36465 |archive-date=7 March 2016 |access-date=24 February 2015}}</ref>
A thorough comparison between ''E. r. marionae'' and ''E. r. superbus'' is pending to confirm that the first one is effectively a different subspecies. Initial results suggest that birds from Gran Canaria have wings about 10% shorter than those on Tenerife.<ref name=Dietzen/> The west Canary Islands' populations are younger (Middle Pleistocene) and only beginning to diverge genetically. Robins from the western Canary Islands on El Hierro, La Palma and La Gomera (''E. r. microrhynchus'') are more similar to the European type subspecies (''E. r. rubecula'').<ref name=Lack46/>
Finally, the robins which can be found on Fuerteventura are the European subspecies, which is not surprising as the species does not breed either in this island or on nearby Lanzarote; they are wintering birds or just on passage during their migration between Africa and Europe.<ref name="canarias7.es"/>
=== Other robins === The larger American robin (''Turdus migratorius'') is a much larger bird named from its similar colouration to the European robin, but the two birds are not closely related, with the American robin instead belonging to the same genus as the common blackbird (''T. merula''), a species which occupies much of the same range as the European robin. The similarity between the European and American robins lies largely in the orange chest patch found in both species. This American species was incorrectly shown "feathering its nest" in London in the film ''Mary Poppins'',<ref name=imdb>{{cite web |title=''Mary Poppins'' (1964) - Goofs |website=IMDb |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058331/goofs |access-date=21 January 2008}}</ref> but it only occurs in the UK as a very rare vagrant.<ref>{{cite news |first=John |last=Roberts |title=Village braced for invasion of twitchers as rare visitor flies in |newspaper=Yorkshire Post |url=http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=55&ArticleID=1997214 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060508082115/http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=55 |archive-date=8 May 2006 |access-date=24 February 2015}}</ref>
Some South and Central American ''Turdus'' thrushes are also called robins, such as the rufous-collared thrush. The Australian "robin redbreast", more correctly the scarlet robin (''Petroica boodang''), is more closely related to crows and jays than it is to the European robin. It belongs to the family Petroicidae, whose members are commonly called "Australasian robins". The red-billed leiothrix (''Leiothrix lutea'') is sometimes named the "Pekin robin" by aviculturalists. Another group of Old World flycatchers, this time from Africa and Asia, is the genus ''Copsychus''; its members are known as magpie-robins, one of which, the Oriental magpie robin (''C. saularis''), is the national bird of Bangladesh.<ref>{{Cite web |title=National icons of Bangladesh |website=Bangla 2000 |url=http://www.bangla2000.com/Bangladesh/national_icons.shtm |access-date=5 August 2010}}</ref>
== Description == [[File:European robin (Erithacus rubecula) juvenile.jpg|thumb|Juvenile, Sussex]] The adult European robin is {{cvt|12.5|–|14.0|cm|in}} long and weighs {{cvt|16|–|22|g|oz}}, with a wingspan of {{cvt|20|–|22|cm|in|round=0.5}}. The male and female bear similar plumage: an orange breast and face (more strongly coloured in the otherwise similar British subspecies ''E. r. melophilus''), lined by a bluish grey on the sides of the neck and chest. The upperparts are brownish, or olive-tinged in British birds, and the belly whitish, while the legs and feet are brown. The bill and eyes are black. Juveniles are a spotted brown and white in colouration, with patches of orange gradually appearing.<ref name=RSPB>{{Cite book|last=Hume |first=R. |title=RSPB Birds of Britain and Europe |year=2002 |publisher=Dorling Kindersley |pages=[https://archive.org/details/rspbbirdsofbrita0000hume/page/263 263] |location=London |isbn=978-0-7513-1234-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/rspbbirdsofbrita0000hume/page/263}}</ref>
== Distribution and habitat == The robin is found in Eurasia, from Western Siberia in the east to Algeria in the south, and on Atlantic islands as far west as the Central Group of the Azores and Madeira. It is a vagrant in Iceland. In the southeast, its range extends to Iran and the Caucasus mountain range.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> Irish and British robins are largely resident but a small minority, usually females, migrate to southern Europe during the winter, with some going as far as Spain. Scandinavian and Russian robins migrate to Britain and western Europe to escape the harsher winters. These migrants can be recognised by the greyish tone of the upper parts of their bodies and duller orange breast. Continental European robins that migrate during winter prefer spruce woods in northern Europe, in contrast to their preference for parks and gardens in Great Britain.<ref name=Jon78>{{Cite book|title=Birds of Wood, Park and Garden |last=Jonsson |first=Lars|year=1976|publisher=Penguin |location=Middlesex, England |isbn=978-0-14-063002-2 |page=90}}</ref>
In southern Iberia, habitat segregation of resident and migrant robins occurs, with resident robins remaining in the same woodlands where they bred.<ref>{{cite journal |author1= De La Hera, I. |author2= Fandos, G. | author3= Fernández-López, J. | author4= Onrubia, A. | author5= Pérez-Rodríguez, A. |author6= Pérez-Tris, J. | author7= Tellería, J. L. |year=2018| title= Habitat segregation by breeding origin in the declining populations of European Robins wintering in southern Iberia | journal=Ibis| volume=160| pages=355–364| doi=10.1111/ibi.12549| issue=2| hdl= 10468/7018 | hdl-access= free }}</ref>
Attempts to introduce the European robin into Australia and New Zealand in the late part of the 19th century were unsuccessful. Birds were released in the areas around Melbourne, Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and Dunedin by various local acclimatisation societies, but none of them became established. A similar outcome occurred in North America when birds failed to become established after being released in Long Island, New York in 1852, Oregon in 1889–1892, and the Saanich Peninsula in British Columbia in 1908–1910.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Introduced Birds of the World: The worldwide history, distribution and influence of birds introduced to new environments|last=Long|first=John L.|year=1981|publisher=Reed|location=Terrey Hills, Sydney|isbn=978-0-589-50260-7|page=309}}</ref> thumb|Robin eating seeds in France
== Behaviour and ecology == [[File:European Robin (Erithacus rubecula) with mealworm.jpeg|thumb|Robin with mealworm]] thumb|right|European robin feeding on snowy ground right|thumb|European robin feeding.
The robin is diurnal, although it has been reported to hunt insects on moonlit nights or near artificial light.<ref name=Patzold95 /> Well known to British and Irish gardeners, the robin is relatively unafraid of people and is drawn to human activities involving digging, such as gardening, in order to look for earthworms and other food that has been freshly turned up. The British and Irish considered robins to be a gardener's friend and would never harm them, partly due to the traditional association of the red colouring of their breasts with the blood of Christ.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Robin-Fact and Folklore|url=https://www.bbcwildlife.org.uk/news/robin-fact-and-folklore-eva-phillips-comms-officer#:~:text=Originally%2C%20robin%20redbreast%20was%20simply,of%20Robin%20Redbreast%20and%20Jenny|access-date=15 September 2022|website=Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust | date=4 October 2017 }}</ref> In continental Europe, however, robins were hunted and killed as were most other small birds. Consequently, they are more wary.<ref name=RSPB /> Robins also approach large wild animals, such as wild boar, which disturb the ground, to look for any food that might be brought to the surface.
In autumn and winter, robins will supplement their usual diet of terrestrial invertebrates, such as spiders, worms and insects, with berries, fruit and seeds.<ref name=Jon78 /><ref name="Collar, N">{{cite journal |last=Collar |first=N. |editor-last1=J. del Hoyo |editor-last2=A. Elliott |editor-last3=J. Sargatal |editor-last4=D. A. Christie |editor-last5=E. de Juana |name-list-style=and |url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/eurrob1/1.0/introduction |title=European Robin (Erithacus rubecula) |website=Birds of the World |url-access=subscription |date=2020-03-04 |doi=10.2173/bow.eurrob1.01}}</ref> They will also eat seed mixtures and suet placed on bird-tables, as well as left-overs.<ref name=RSPB /><ref>{{cite web |last=Hoskins |first=Rachel |title=What do Robins Eat? And What to Feed them |url=https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/12/what-do-robins-eat/ |access-date=2025-03-22 |website=Woodland Trust |date=12 January 2019 }}</ref><ref name="Collar, N" /> The robin is even known to feed on small vertebrates (including fish and lizards) and carrion.<ref name="Collar, N" />
Male robins are highly territorial and will fiercely attack other males and competitors that enter their territory. They have even been known to attack other small birds for no apparent reason. There are recorded instances of robins attacking their own reflection.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=RHS|date=December 2018|title=December wildlife: Robins have a new family|journal=The Garden RHS|volume=143|issue=12|page=29}}</ref> Territorial disputes sometimes lead to fatalities, accounting for up to 10% of adult robin deaths in some areas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/r/robin/territory.asp|title=The RSPB-Robin:Territory|access-date=1 July 2019|work=RSPB website|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211111532/http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/r/robin/territory.asp |archive-date=11 December 2008}}</ref>
Because of high mortality in the first year of life, a robin has an average life expectancy of 1.1 years; however, once past its first year, life expectancy increases. One robin has been recorded as reaching 19 years of age.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.euring.org/data_and_codes/longevity-voous.htm|title=Euring: European Longevity Records|access-date=1 June 2015|publisher=euring.org}}</ref> A spell of very low temperatures in winter can, however, result in higher mortality rates.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/r/robin/threats.asp|title=The RSPB-Robin:Threats|access-date=17 May 2008|work=RSPB website}}</ref> The species is parasitised by the moorhen flea (''Dasypsyllus gallinulae'')<ref name=Rothschild>{{cite book|title=Fleas, Flukes and Cuckoos. A study of bird parasites|author=Rothschild, Miriam|author-link=Miriam Rothschild|author2=Clay, Theresa|year=1957|publisher=Macmillan|location=New York|page=113|url=https://archive.org/details/fleasflukescucko00roth}}</ref> and the acanthocephalan ''Apororhynchus silesiacus''.<ref name="Dimitrova">{{cite journal |last1=Dimitrova |first1=Z. M. |last2=Murai |first2=Éva |last3=Georgiev |first3=Boyko B. |s2cid=82191853 |date=1995 |title=The first record in Hungary of ''Apororhynchus silesiacus'' Okulewicz and Maruszewski, 1980 (Acanthocephala), with new data on its morphology |journal=Parasitologia Hungarica |volume=28 |pages=83–88}}</ref>
=== Breeding === Robins can build nests in a variety of places. In fact, they will consider anything that offers some shelter, such as a depression or a hole. As well as crevices and sheltered banks, they may also use pieces of machinery, barbecues, bicycle handlebars, the bristles of upturned brooms, discarded kettles, watering cans, flower pots and hats. Robins will also nest in manmade nest boxes, favouring a design with an open front placed in a sheltered position up to {{convert|2|m}} from the ground.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bto.org/sites/default/files/bto-nest-boxes-essential-guide.pdf|title=NEST BOXES: YOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE|pages=12–13|website=Bto.org|access-date=19 March 2022}}</ref> Nests are generally composed of moss, leaves and grass, with fine grass, hair and feathers for lining.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |last=Jones |first=Hannah |url=https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/robin-erithacus-rubecula.html |title=Robin (Erithacus rubecula) |website=Natural History Museum |orig-date=Original date 20 December 2019 |date=2024-03-21}}</ref>
Two or three clutches of five or six eggs are laid throughout the breeding season, which commences in March in Britain and Ireland. The eggs are a cream, buff or white speckled or blotched with reddish-brown colour, often more heavily so at the larger end.<ref name=Observerbirdseggs>{{Cite book|title=The Observer's Book of Birds' Eggs|author=Evans, G.|page=85|year=1972|publisher=Warne|location=London, UK|isbn=978-0-7232-0060-4}}</ref> When juvenile birds fly from the nests, their colouration is entirely mottled brown. After two to three months out of the nest, the juvenile bird grows some orange feathers under its chin, and over a similar period this patch gradually extends to complete the adult appearance of an entirely red-orange breast.<ref name="auto"/>
{{multiple image | footer = | align = center | image1 = Robin eggs.jpg | width1 = {{#expr: (160 * 633/600) round 0}} | caption1 = Nest with five eggs | image2 = RobinEgg-edit.jpg | width2 = {{#expr: (160 * 2488/2054) round 0}} | caption2 = A single egg | image3 = Vogelnest Bodenbrüter.jpg | width3 = {{#expr: (228 * 633/600) round 0}} | caption3 = Bird nest of a ground-breeding robin | image4 = Erithacus rubecula mating 628463898.jpg | width4 = {{#expr: (228 * 633/600) round 0}} | caption4 = robins mating. }}
=== Vocalisation === {{listen|filename=Erithacus rubecula.ogg|title=European robin|description=European robin song}}
The robin produces a fluting, warbling {{audio|120401-132827 Erithacus rubecula.ogg|song}} during the breeding season. Both the male and female sing throughout the year, including during the winter, when they hold separate territories. During the winter, the robin's song is more plaintive than the summer version.<ref name=RSPB /> 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 robin keeps the same territory throughout the year. During the breeding season, male robins usually initiate their morning song an hour before civil sunrise, and usually terminate their daily singing around thirty minutes after sunset.<ref name="Behavioral Ecology">{{Cite journal|author=Da Silva|author2=Samplonius|author3=Schlicht, Valcu|author4= Gaston|year=2014|title=Artificial night lighting rather than traffic noise affects the daily timing of dawn and dusk singing in common European songbirds|journal=Behavioral Ecology|volume=25|pages=1037–1047|doi=10.1093/beheco/aru103|issue=5|doi-access=free|hdl=11370/206e1438-4cee-4da1-b712-f08064801cd1|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Nocturnal singing can also occur, especially in urban areas that are artificially lit during the night.<ref name="Behavioral Ecology" /> Some urban robins opt to sing at night to avoid daytime anthropogenic noise.<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Fuller RA, Warren PH, Gaston KJ |year=2007|title=Daytime noise predicts nocturnal singing in urban robins|journal=Biology Letters|volume=3|pages=368–70|doi=10.1098/rsbl.2007.0134|pmid=17456449|issue=4|pmc=2390663}}</ref>
=== Magnetoreception === [[File:Effect of RF interference on Magnetoreception in Birds.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|Very weak radio-frequency interference prevents migratory robins from orienting correctly to the Earth's magnetic field. Since this would not interfere with an iron compass, the experiments imply that the birds use a radical-pair mechanism.<ref name="Hore Mouritsen 2022"/>]]
The avian magnetic compass of the robin has been extensively researched and uses vision-based magnetoreception, in which the robin's ability to sense the magnetic field of the Earth for navigation is affected by the light entering the bird's eye. The physical mechanism of the robin's magnetic sense involves quantum entanglement of electron spins in cryptochrome in the bird's eyes.<ref name=Hore2016>{{Cite journal |last1=Hore |first1=Peter J. |author1-link=Peter Hore (chemist) |last2=Mouritsen |first2=Henrik |date=5 July 2016 |title=The Radical-Pair Mechanism of Magnetoreception |journal=Annual Review of Biophysics |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=299–344 |doi=10.1146/annurev-biophys-032116-094545 |pmid=27216936 |s2cid=7099782 |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:c1e3c8ca-98b3-4e9d-8efd-0b9ad9b965eb |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Hore Mouritsen 2022"> {{cite journal | last1 = Hore | first1 = Peter J | last2 = Mouritsen | first2 = Henrik | author1-link = Peter Hore (chemist) | title = The quantum nature of bird migration | date = April 2022 | journal = Scientific American | volume = 326 | issue = 4 | pages = 26–31 | doi = 10.1038/scientificamerican0422-26 | pmid = 39016862 | issn = 0036-8733 | url = https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-migrating-birds-use-quantum-effects-to-navigate/ | access-date = 29 January 2023 | url-access = subscription }} Web version published under title "How migrating birds use quantum effects to navigate". </ref>
== Conservation status == The European robin has an extensive range and a population numbering in the hundreds of millions. The species does not approach the vulnerable thresholds under the population trend criterion (>30 per cent decline over ten years or three generations); the population appears to be increasing. The International Union for Conservation of Nature evaluates it as least concern.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/>
== Cultural depictions == The robin features prominently in British folklore and that of northwestern France, but much less so in other parts of Europe,<ref name=ingersoll167> {{cite book |last=Ingersoll |first=Ernest |year=1923 |chapter=Fire-birds: The robin and the wren |title=Birds in Legend, Fable and Folklore |location=New York, NY |publisher=Longmans, Green, & Co. |page=167 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/birdsinlegendfab00inge |access-date=8 August 2009 }} </ref> though in the nineteenth century Jacob Grimm reported a tradition from German-speaking Europe that if someone disturbed a robin's nest their house would be struck by lightning.<ref>{{cite book|last=Grimm|others=Stallybrass (tr.)|title=Teutonic mythology|publisher=George Bell & Sons|year=1883|volume=2|url=https://archive.org/details/teutonicmytholog02grim}}</ref>{{rp|682–83}} Robins feature in the traditional English children's tale ''Babes in the Wood''; the birds cover the dead bodies of the children.<ref name=deVries76/>
An old British folk tale seeks to explain the robin's distinctive breast: Legend has it that when Jesus was dying on the cross, the robin, then simply brown in colour, flew to his side and sang into his ear in order to comfort him in his pain; the blood from his wounds stained the robin's breast, and thereafter all robins carry the mark of Christ's blood upon them.<ref name="Cooper92"> {{cite book |last=Cooper |first=J.C. |year=1992 |title=Symbolic and Mythological Animals |page=194 |publisher=Aquarian Press |location=London, UK |isbn=978-1-85538-118-6 }} </ref>{{efn| In Christian folklore the robin got its red breast because it plucked a thorn from Jesus' crown-of-thorns during His crucifixion. A drop of Jesus' blood fell on to the bird and thereafter they had a red breast – for Christians the robin has long been associated with charity and piety.<ref>{{cite web |last=Goodall |first=Simon |title=European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') |website=Greater Manchester Local Record Centre |url=http://www.gmwildlife.org.uk/wildlife/species/index.php?species=European%20Robin |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307095635/https://www.gmwildlife.org.uk/wildlife/species/index.php?species=European%20Robin |archive-date=7 March 2016 }}</ref> }} The robin has become strongly associated with Christmas, taking a starring role on many Christmas cards since the mid-19th century.<ref name=deVries76> {{cite book |last=de Vries |first=Ad |year=1976 |title=Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery |pages=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofsymb0000vrie/page/388 388]–389 |publisher=North-Holland Publishing Company |location=Amsterdam, NL |isbn=978-0-7204-8021-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofsymb0000vrie/page/388 }} </ref> The robin has appeared on many Christmas postage stamps.
The robin is a sacred bird in Welsh folklore where it is said to have taken pity on the souls in Hell and decided to scoop water up in its beak and fly down into the "fiery pit" in one tale, to offer the sinners some respite; in another to extinguishing the eternal flames forever. As such, the robin still bears the scorch marks of these fires on its head and chest and is called "Brou-Rhuddyn" (English: "burnt-breast") in the Welsh language today.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=William Jenkyn |title=The Welsh Fairy Book |date=1907 |publisher=T. Fisher Unwin |page=304 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=deVries76/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Rodgers |first1=Diane A. |title=Folk Horror, Ostension and Robin Redbreast : Revenant |url=https://www.revenantjournal.com/contents/folk-horror-ostension-and-robin-redbreast/ |website=www.revenantjournal.com}}</ref> However the sacred bird could also be seen as a bad omen if they break a house's threshold, sometimes signaling death or illness. In the Welsh coalfields, a robin appearing underground was seen as a harbinger of a catastrophic accident to come.<ref>{{cite web |title=Christmas and the Robin |url=https://www.hypnogoria.com/folklore_christmasrobin.html#:~:text=In%20Wales%20the%20little%20bird,face%20and%20chest%20burnt%20red. |website=www.hypnogoria.com |access-date=26 March 2026 |language=en |date=2019}}</ref>
In the 1960s, in a vote publicised by ''The Times'', the robin was adopted as the unofficial national bird of the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web |title=European robin |website=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/species/European_Robin |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027141358/http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/species/European_Robin |archive-date=2010-10-27 }}</ref> In 2015, the robin was again voted Britain's national bird in a poll organised by birdwatcher David Lindo, taking 34% of the final vote.<ref> {{cite news |title=Robin wins vote for UK's national bird |date=10 June 2015 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London, UK |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/10/robin-wins-vote-uk-national-bird-britain |access-date=13 June 2016 }} </ref>
Several English and Welsh sports organisations are nicknamed "the Robins". The nickname is typically used for teams whose home colours predominantly use red. These include the professional football clubs Bristol City,<ref>{{cite web |title=Robin sees City soar into new era |website=Bristol City F.C. |date=25 March 2019 |url=https://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/robin-sees-city-soar-into-new-era/ |access-date=2025-03-22}}</ref> Crewe Alexandra, Swindon Town, Cheltenham Town and, traditionally, Wrexham A.F.C., as well as the English rugby league team Hull Kingston Rovers (whose home colours are white with a red band).<ref> {{cite web |title=History |website=Hull Kingston Rovers |type=official website |publisher=Hull Kingston Rovers RLFC |url=http://hullkr.co.uk/history |access-date=22 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127212257/http://hullkr.co.uk/history |archive-date=27 January 2012 }} </ref> As of 2019, Bristol City, Swindon Town and Cheltenham Town also incorporate a robin image in their current badge designs.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}} A small bird is an unusual choice, although it is thought to symbolise agility in darting around the field.<ref> {{cite book |last=Morris |first=Desmond |author-link=Desmond Morris |year=1981 |title=The Soccer Tribe |publisher=Jonathan Cape |location=London, UK |isbn=978-0-224-01935-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/soccertribe0000morr/page/210 210] |url=https://archive.org/details/soccertribe0000morr/page/210 }} </ref> {{clear}}
== Footnotes == {{notelist}}
== Citations == {{reflist|25em}}
== Further reading == * {{Cite book|first=Andrew|last=Lack|year=2008|title=Redbreast: The Robin in Life and Literature|publisher=SMH Books|isbn=978-0-9553827-2-7}}
== External links == {{Commons}} {{Wikispecies|Erithacus rubecula}} {{Wikiquote|Robins}} {{Wiktionary|robin}} * {{field guide birds of the world|Erithacus rubecula}} * [https://ebird.org/species/eurrob1 European Robin] on eBird * [http://association.sonatura.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=255&Itemid=41 Sonatura: Song of the European Robin] ({{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827063653/http://association.sonatura.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=255&Itemid=41 |date=27 August 2011 }}) * [https://web.archive.org/web/20161108173715/http://aulaenred.ibercaja.es/wp-content/uploads/327_RobinErubecula.pdf Ageing and sexing (PDF; 2.9 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze] * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkFcjv7HAJU Robins in slow motion #2 - UHD 4K] video published by wildlife cinematographer Steve Downer via YouTube
{{Taxonbar|from=Q25334}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Erithacus Category:Robins Category:Birds of Europe European robin Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus