European Robin

This is the European Robin of Britain, Ireland and Europe. In North America, "robin" means the American Robin, a much larger thrush: see American Robin vs European Robin.

An adult Robin is one of the easiest birds to name: an orange-red face and breast, edged with blue-grey, a plain brown back and a whitish belly, with a thin dark bill and pinkish-brown legs. It is small and plump, about 19 g on average.

Males and females look alike, so you cannot tell them apart by their feathers.

Young Robins leave the nest with no red breast at all. They are brown and speckled all over with golden brown. As their first moult goes on through the summer, the orange-red breast and pale belly grow in. Even before then, the round body, long legs and tilted head give a young Robin away.

For every stage from egg to juvenile, with photos, see baby Robins.

For ringers and keen birders: males average slightly longer wings than females, 75.0 mm against 72.7 mm in birds caught for ringing, but the ranges overlap too much to sex a bird in the field.¹

Robins sing in almost every month. The song is a run of sweet, high, whistled phrases, each two to four seconds long, with abrupt pauses between them, and each verse a little different. The only quiet spell is July and August, while adults moult.

Autumn and winter song surprises many people because it is not only the males singing. Female Robins hold their own winter territories and sing to defend them; in a field experiment, both sexes sang with more vigour when an intruder was simulated.² Their autumn song is quieter and more wistful than the spring song, which comes almost entirely from males.

The call you will hear most is a hard "tic", repeated when a Robin is excited or facing a rival, and speeding up into a ticking rattle when it is really worked up. A very thin, high "tseee" is its alarm.

Robins are often the bird singing after dark in towns, usually near street lights. A study of urban Robins found that night singing was linked far more strongly to daytime noise than to light: birds in noisy places appear to sing when it is quieter.³

Robins live right across Britain and Ireland, from Shetland to the Channel Islands; only the highest mountain tops lack them. Look in gardens, parks, towns and the countryside, in any month. In the BTO's Gardenwatch survey, Robins fed or sheltered in about 70% of gardens.⁴

Most British and Irish Robins stay put all year. Ringing, going back to David Lack's studies in the 1940s, shows that a small share leave in autumn, mostly females, some reaching France.⁵ Meanwhile Robins from northern and eastern Europe arrive to spend the winter here, so the Robin on your fence in January may not be the one that nested in your hedge.

Turn over a patch of soil and wait: Robins follow gardeners for the worms and grubs a spade turns up. In winter, listen for the song first, then look low, on a fence post or a branch at the edge of cover, where a Robin sits and watches the ground for food.⁴

Mostly small beetles and other insects, plus worms and other small animals from the soil. Robins hunt by eye and would rather find their own food than use a feeder.⁴ They also eat fruit, seeds and nuts.

Mealworms are the favourite, live or dried and soaked. Robins also take suet, sunflower hearts and crushed peanuts. Robins feed mostly on the ground and rarely use a hanging feeder, but the RSPB now advises against bird tables and trays, where disease spreads most: offer a few mealworms at a time and clear away what is left. Do not give bread or milk.

The RSPB now advises pausing seed and peanuts from 1 May to 31 October, because trichomonosis spreads at feeders in summer and autumn, while small amounts of mealworms, fat balls or suet are fine.⁶ For Robins that means mealworms and suet all year, and sunflower hearts or crushed peanuts from November to April.

Robins nest low, in a hollow or a tangle: among tree roots, under a log or in thick plants. In gardens they are famous for odd sites, from flower pots in sheds to post boxes and old boots.⁴

The first eggs are laid in mid-April on average, and as early as mid-March. A clutch is usually four or five whitish eggs with fine reddish speckles. The female incubates them for 14 to 16 days, and the chicks leave the nest about two weeks after hatching (12.5 to 16 days). Most pairs raise two broods a year, some three.¹

More detail: Robin nesting: when, where and how to help.

A box with a small round hole will not suit a Robin. Use an open-fronted box with a front panel about 100 mm high, fixed below about 2 m (6 to 7 ft) inside a climber or other cover, facing north-east, out of the prevailing wind and rain.⁷

Robins are territorial all year, chase off intruders and will sometimes fight to the death. In The Life of the Robin, first published in 1943, David Lack described his study of ringed Robins, which showed that song is how they claim and hold their ground; he reported that territory holders attacked a stuffed Robin, and even a bundle of red breast feathers, placed in their patch.⁸

The same boldness makes them easy to watch. In hard weather several Robins may crowd onto one bird table, each trying to defend the food.

Robins have helped explain how birds find their way. Experiments with Robins showed that birds can orient with a magnetic compass,⁹ and in 2021 laboratory tests found that cryptochrome 4, a light-sensitive protein from the Robin, responds to magnetic fields more strongly than the same protein from chickens and pigeons.¹⁰

Short lives are normal for Robins. The BTO gives a typical lifespan of two years, with breeding usually starting at one year old. Only about four in ten adults survive from one year to the next, and about the same share of young birds survive their first year.¹

Cold winters hit them hard: UK numbers were set back by a run of cold winters before rising from the mid-1980s. Lack's study found that most Robins die in any given year.⁸

The oldest Robin known from ringing in Britain and Ireland was 8 years, 4 months and 30 days old, a record set in 1977.¹ The European record is far longer: a Robin ringed under the Czech scheme reached 19 years and 4 months.¹¹

The Robin is doing well. It is on the UK Green List¹² and is of Least Concern worldwide. The UK has about 7.4 million Robin territories (2016 estimate), and breeding numbers rose 57% between 1967 and 2024, most likely because each nesting attempt now produces more young.¹