American Robin

Identification

At 23–28 cm the American Robin is a substantial, upright thrush and unmistakable once seen well: warm grey-brown upperparts, a brick-orange breast and belly, a blackish head broken by white crescents above and below the eye, and a bright yellow bill. The lower belly and undertail coverts stay white, and white outer tail corners flash in flight. Females are paler and greyer overall and first-winter birds are heavily spotted below, but the orange wash across the chest sets every plumage apart from other North American thrushes.

Robins hunt with a trademark run-pause-listen routine, tilting the head to catch the movement of earthworms just under the turf, then tugging them free; in autumn and winter they switch almost entirely to fruit, and a flock stripping a hawthorn or rowan can look briefly unsteady after feeding on fermented berries. They nest early, from March in the south, building a mud-lined cup of grass on a branch, ledge or light fitting, and raise two or three broods. Both sexes sing, most vigorously at first light before feeding begins.

The easiest place to find one is a mown lawn or playing field at dawn or right after rain, when worms come near the surface — watch for a bird standing motionless, head cocked, before the quick downward stab. In winter, scan berry-bearing trees in parks, and check communal night roosts, which can gather hundreds of birds.