Identification:

  • Length 8 to 11 inches
  • Dark gray to black head
  • Reddish breast
  • White lower belly
  • Gray upper body
  • Tin yellow bill
  • White under tail
  • Broken eye ring
  • Throat are white with black streaks
  • Males and females are very similar
  • Females are lighter in color
  • Both are usually brighter in color in the summer months
  • Juveniles have a whiter spotted breast

 

 

Characteristics:

  • American Robins breeds shortly after migrating into their northerly habitats in the spring.  Breeding season last form April through July. The American Robin is one of the first birds to start laying their eggs in the spring. They normally lay two or three times a year.
  • The nest is built by the female with long coarse grasses, twigs, paper, and feathers woven together to make a cup-shaped nest. The nest is then lined with mud and later she adds soft materials like grasses to have cushioning for her eggs. The nests is located on the ground, in small brush, in trees, or on human structures. They are most commonly located 5-15 feet above the ground. The nest usually accommodates three to five blue-green eggs.
  • Robins produce many different sounds like melodic songs, melodic song, high-pitched hissing sounds signifying scolding, and loud and piercing sounds signifying alarm.

 

        Taxonomy Hierarchy :

  • Kingdom:  Animalia
  • Phylum:  Chordata
  • Subphylum:  Vertebrata
  • Class:  Aves
  • Order:  Passeriformes
  • Family:  Turdidae
  • Genus:  Turdus
  • Species:  Turdus migratorius

        Subspecies:

  • Turdus migratorius achrusterus
  • Turdus migratorius confinis
  • Turdus migratorius migratorius
  • Turdus migratorius nigrideus
  • Turdus migratorius propinguus

 

Habitat: 

Habitats are woodlands, gardens, orchards, lawns, and fields. They like open ground for hunting for food and woodlands or shrubs for nesting and roosting. Robins also like residential areas in the early Spring to late Fall. In the late Fall through early spring they can be found in large flocks, in areas with lots of fruiting trees.

Diet:

American Robins diet consists of fruits, berries, insects, and worms. Their diet usually consists of approximately 60% fruits and berries and 40% invertebrates.

Range:

Robins are found form Newfoundland to British Columbia, throughout most of the U.S., and southward through Mexico to Guatemala. The entire population migrates southward in autumn. American robins migration routes are usually short distances during the year.

 

Click here for Distribution Maps   Winter Distribution   Summer Distribution

 

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Sources:

1.  US Geological Survey

2.  Author: Gregory Gough, (USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center)

3.  Middlebrook, C. 2001. "Turdus migratorius" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April    07, 2004 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Turdus_migratorius.html.