American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

American Robin overview

The American robin is a large North American thrush with a gray-brown back, dark head, broken white eye ring and warm orange-red breast. It is one of the continent's most abundant and familiar birds, often seen running and stopping across lawns as it hunts earthworms, and its caroling song at dawn is a classic sign of spring. European settlers named it after the much smaller, unrelated European robin because of the similar breast color. Robins can raise two or three broods a year, and the female's unmarked blue eggs gave their name to the color robin's-egg blue.

How Long Do American Robins Live?

American robins live about 2 years on average in the wild, and birds that get through their first year often live 5–6 years. Only around a quarter of fledglings survive to November of their first year. The oldest known wild robin was 13 years and 11 months old.

How Much Does an American Robin Weigh?

An adult American robin weighs 59–94 g (2.1–3.3 oz), with an average of about 77 g. Males and females are similar in weight. It is the largest thrush in North America and weighs roughly four times as much as a European robin.

How Long Is an American Robin?

American robins are 20–28 cm (8–11 in) long with a wingspan of 31–41 cm (12–16 in). Bird guides often use the robin as a size reference: bigger than a sparrow or bluebird, smaller than a crow. Males are on average slightly larger and more richly colored.

How Fast Can an American Robin Fly?

American robins fly at about 32–58 km/h (20–36 mph) in level flight. Migrating flocks travel mostly by day and tend to move north in spring as the average daily temperature reaches about 2–3°C (around 37°F), when the ground thaws and worms become available.

How Long Do American Robins Eggs Take to Hatch?

American robin eggs hatch after 12–14 days of incubation. The female builds a mud-and-grass cup nest, lays three to five sky-blue eggs and incubates them herself. Both parents feed the chicks, which leave the nest about 13 days after hatching. Pairs commonly raise two or three broods a season.

What Do American Robins Eat?

American robins are omnivores that eat earthworms, insects and snails in spring and summer and mostly fruit and berries in fall and winter. Invertebrates make up around 40 percent of the yearly diet and fruit about 60 percent. They find worms mainly by sight, tilting the head to look.

Diet type: omnivore. Earthworms, beetle grubs, caterpillars, snails and other invertebrates in spring and summer; mostly fruit and berries such as juniper, holly, dogwood, sumac and crabapple in fall and winter.

Where Do American Robins Live?

American robins live almost anywhere in North America with open ground for feeding and trees or shrubs for nesting: lawns, parks, farmland, woodlands, mountain forests and tundra edges. They breed from Alaska to Mexico. In winter many move south or gather in flocks in wooded areas with fruit.

Are American Robins Endangered?

The American robin is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, with a population estimated in the hundreds of millions and increasing. Because robins feed on lawns, they are vulnerable to pesticide poisoning and were an early indicator of DDT's harm in the 1950s and 1960s.

Least Concern

American Robin fun facts

• The American robin is the state bird of Connecticut, Michigan and Wisconsin.
• Robins that eat fermented berries in late winter, or large amounts of honeysuckle berries, sometimes become intoxicated and stumble around.
• Winter roosts of American robins can contain tens of thousands to a quarter of a million birds.
• The female shapes the inside of the nest by pressing her body into wet mud, then lines it with fine dry grass.
• Robins are among the first birds to sing at dawn and the last to stop at dusk, and they often sing at night near street lights.

Rankings and comparisons

American Robin FAQ

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