Robin Facts

About the robin

Despite the name, this bird is only a distant cousin of the European robin, and the shared label comes from the similar breast color. American robins spend winter anywhere between southern Canada and central Mexico, plus the Pacific coast. A 2019 estimate put their numbers at 370 million, making them the most plentiful landbird in North America, ahead of red-winged blackbirds and European starlings.

Robins feed by day on beetle grubs, earthworms, caterpillars, fruit and berries, then gather in big flocks at night. They are among the first birds to nest each spring and among the first to sing at dawn. Nests are built from coarse grass, twigs, paper and feathers, plastered with mud and lined with softer material. Domestic cats are the main threat to adults, along with hawks and snakes.

Did you know?

• Carl Linnaeus described the species in 1766 as Turdus migratorius, meaning migrating thrush.
• Its closest relative appears to be the rufous-collared thrush of Central America.
• Brown-headed cowbirds sometimes sneak eggs into robin nests, but robins usually toss them out.