European Robin Life History

Habitat

European Robins inhabit shaded woodlands ranging from backyard gardens to mossy coniferous forests. In general, this species frequents cool, damp, shady habitats that offer undergrowth for cover, perches for singing, small patches of bare ground for foraging, and walls, banks, or rocks for nesting.

Food

European Robins feed mainly on terrestrial insects such as beetles and ants. They add seeds and berries to their diet during the winter. Robins use two main methods to catch insects (and other invertebrates) on the leaf litter: dropping down from a low perch to pluck prey from the ground and then returning to a perch; or hopping quickly along the ground, pausing momentarily, flicking wings and tail, and then hopping again in pursuit of an insect, spider, worm, etc.

Nesting

Nest Placement

Females build the nest, typically in a cavity near ground level or up to 5 meters (15 feet) high. Sites include tree stumps, root masses, banks, rock crevices, hollow trees, nest boxes, walls, and other human structures.

Nest Description

A cup nest of moss, leaves, and grass built on a base of dead leaves and lined with hair and plant fibers.

Nesting Facts

Behavior

European Robins in Ireland and the United Kingdom are quite at home around people, but elsewhere, this species is more wary. Robins do perch conspicuously at times, to sing or search for food, but they often retreat into dense vegetation. They avoid large open areas, instead seeking food in small patches of bare ground. Foraging birds are quite energetic, flicking their wings and tail in between bursts of purposeful hopping.

Robins are very territorial birds, with both sexes maintaining territories outside of the breeding season. Birds typically form monogamous pairs that last for a single breeding season, but males sometimes have two mates simultaneously. Pairs across most of the species’s range raise two broods per year, with 4–7 chicks per brood. Females build the nest and incubate the eggs. Both sexes feed the nestlings, which usually fledge after two weeks, and the male continues feeding the young birds when the female starts a second brood.

Conservation

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists European Robin’s conservation status as Least Concern due to an extremely large range, increasing population trend, and extremely large population size (estimated at 130–201 million individuals). 

Credits

BirdLife International. 2018. Erithacus rubecula. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22709675A131953953. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22709675A131953953.en.

Collar, N. (2020). European Robin (Erithacus rubecula), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.eurrob1.01

Cramp, S., Editor (1988). The Birds of the Western Palearctic, Volume 5: Tyrant Flycatchers to Thrushes. Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom.

Jonsson, L. (1992). Birds of Europe with North Africa and the Middle East. Christopher Helm, London, United Kingdom.

Lack, D. (1948). Notes on the ecology of the Robin. Ibis. 90: 252-279.

Svensson, L., K. Mullarney, and D. Zetterström (2009). Collins Bird Guide. Second edition. HarperCollins, London, UK.

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