European Robin
The European Robin with a fly caught as prey (Erithacus rubecula rubecula)
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Muscicapidae Genus: Erithacus Species: E. rubecula
Binomial name
Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies
7-10, see text. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 400 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (667 × 1000 pixel, file size: 384 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photograph of a European robin with a fly caught for feeding on. ... For other uses, see Fly (disambiguation) and Flies (disambiguation). ... The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. ... Image File history File links Status_iucn3. ... Least Concern (LC) is an IUCN category assigned to extant species or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. ... For other uses, see Scientific classification (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... For other uses, see Bird (disambiguation). ... Families Many, see text A passerine is a bird of the giant order Passeriformes. ... Genera See text. ... Genera See text. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Carl Linnaeus, Latinized as Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as  , (May 13, 1707[1] – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist[2] who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature. ... Year 1758 (MDCCLVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... This article is about the zoological term. ...

The European Robin (Erithacus rubecula) or, in Anglophone Europe, simply Robin, or also known as a Robin red-chest, is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family, but is now considered to belong to the Old World flycatchers (Muscicapidae). Look up Anglophone in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Families Many, see text A passerine is a bird of the giant order Passeriformes. ... For other uses, see Bird (disambiguation). ... Genera 22 genera, see text The Thrushes, family Turdidae, are a group of passerine birds that occur mainly but not exclusively in the Old World. ... Genera See text. ...

It occurs all over Europe to Western Siberia, south to Algeria and on the Atlantic Ocean as far as the Azores and Madeira. In the south east, it reaches the Caucasus range. This article is about Siberia as a whole. ... Motto (Portuguese for Rather die free than in peace subjugated) Anthem  (national)  (local) Capital Ponta Delgada1 Angra do Heroísmo2 Horta3 Largest city Ponta Delgada Official languages Portuguese Government Autonomous region  -  President Carlos César Establishment  -  Settled 1439   -  Autonomy 1976  Area  -  Total 2,333 km² (n/a) 911 sq mi... For other uses, see Madeira (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Caucasus Mountains. ...

The European Robin is a common European songbird. It is 12.5 – 14.0 cm (5.0 – 5.5 inches) long and it is known for its pugnacious behaviour despite its small size. The distinctive red patch on the chest of both sexes led to its original name of redbreast. In the fifteenth century, when it became popular to give human names to familiar species, the bird came to be known as Robin redbreast, which was eventually shortened to robin (Lack, 1953:44). A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Oscines of Passeriformes (ca. ...

Robins have a fluting, warbling song in the breeding season. Robins often sing into the evening, and sometimes into the night, leading some to confuse them with the Nightingale. Both males and females sing during the winter, when they hold separate territories, the song then sounding more plaintive than the summer version. The female Robins move a short distance from the summer nesting territory to a nearby territory that is more suitable for winter feeding. Male Robins keep the same territory throughout the year. Binomial name Luscinia megarhynchos (Brehm, 1831) This article is about the bird. ...

Juvenile Robin

Robins build a neat cup nest in crevices, holes or artificial sites such as discarded kettles. When juvenile birds fly from the nests they are mottled brown in colour all over and do not have a red breast. After 2 to 3 months out of the nest, the juvenile birds grow some reddish feathers under their chins and over a further 2 to 3 months this patch gradually extends to complete the adult appearance. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (744x963, 98 KB) A juvenile European Robin. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (744x963, 98 KB) A juvenile European Robin. ...

The Robin is well known to British and Irish gardeners: it is relatively unafraid of humans and likes to come close when anyone is digging the soil, in order to look out for earthworms and other food freshly turned up; when the gardener stops for a break the robin might use the handle of the spade as a lookout point. Robins in continental Europe are more wary. Robins also approach large wild animals, such as wild boar and other animals which disturb the ground, to look for any food that might be brought to the surface. Families   Acanthodrilidae   Ailoscolecidae   Alluroididae   Almidae   Criodrilidae   Eudrilidae   Exxidae   Glossoscolecidae   Lumbricidae   Lutodrilidae   Megascolecidae   Microchaetidae   Ocnerodrilidae   Octochaetidae   Sparganophilidae Earthworm is the common name for the largest members of the Oligochaeta (which is either a class or subclass depending on the author) in the phylum Annelida. ... Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands and, at times, peninsulas. ... Binomial name Sus scrofa Linnaeus, 1758 The Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) is the wild ancestor of the domesticated pig. ...

Male Robins are noted for their highly aggressive territorial behaviour. They will ruthlessly attack other males that stray into their territories, and have been observed attacking other small birds without apparent provocation. Such attacks sometimes lead to fatalities, an aspect of the birds' behaviour which is inconsistent with its wholesome, gentle public image.

British Robins are largely resident but a small minority, usually female, migrate to southern Europe during winter and a few of these migrate as far as Spain. For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ...

Scandinavian and Russian Robins migrate to Britain and western Europe to escape the harsher winters. These migrants can be recognised by the greyer tone of the upper parts of their bodies and duller orange breast. For other uses, see Scandinavia (disambiguation). ...

Because of high mortality in the first year of life, a Robin has an average life expectancy of 1.1 years; however, once past its first year it can expect to live longer and one Robin has been recorded as reaching the age of 12 years.^[1] World map of human life expectancy Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average length of survival of a living thing. ...

Systematics

The Robin belongs to a group of mainly insectivorous birds that have been assigned to the thrushes or "flycatchers", dependent on how these groups were perceived taxonomically through the years. Eventually, the flycatcher-thrush assemblage was separated and the genus Erithacus assigned to a group of thrush-like true flycatchers that also includes the nightingale and the Old World chats. Any organism with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures is an insectivore. ... There are various families of bird termed flycatchers: The Old World flycatchers, Muscicapidae The Tyrant-flycatchers, Tyrannidae The Monarch flycatchers, Dicruridae The Silky-flycatchers, Ptilogonatidae Flycatcher could also refer to: The story Flycatcher, a version of the Frog Prince Category: ... Look up taxonomy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Genera See text. ... Binomial name Luscinia megarhynchos (Brehm, 1831) This article is about the bird. ... The Old World consists of those parts of Earth known to Europeans, Asians, and Africans before the voyages of Christopher Columbus; it includes Europe, Asia, and Africa (collectively known as Africa-Eurasia), plus surrounding islands. ...

Two other species are usually placed in Erithacus. These, however are peculiar island birds, occurring on the other (Eastern) end of the Palearctic. Biogeography and mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data indicate that they are best separated together with some Far Eastern "nightingales", leaving the European species in Erithacus (Seki 2006). The Palearctic or Palaearctic is one of the eight ecozones dividing the Earth surface (see map). ... Biogeography is the science which deals with patterns of species distribution and the processes that result in such patterns. ... Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is DNA which is not located in the nucleus of the cell but in the mitochondria. ... CoQ Cytochrome c reductase The Coenzyme Q - cytochrome c reductase complex, sometimes called the cytochrome bc1 complex, and at other times Complex III, is the third complex in the electron transfer chain (PDB 1KYO, EC 1. ... part of a DNA sequence A DNA sequence (sometimes genetic sequence) is a succession of letters representing the primary structure of a real or hypothetical DNA molecule or strand, The possible letters are A, C, G, and T, representing the four nucleotide subunits of a DNA strand (adenine, cytosine, guanine... The far east as a cultural block includes East Asia, Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia and South Asia. ...

In its large continental Eurasian range, robins vary somewhat, but do not form discrete populations that might be considered subspecies (Pätzold 1995^{[verification needed]}, Dietzen et al. 2003). Thus, robin subspecies are mainly distinguished by forming resident populations on islands and in mountaineous areas. This article is about the zoological term. ...

The British Robin, Erithacus rubecula melophilus, hardly differs from Continental birds.

As noted above, robins from the British Isles (Erithacus rubecula melophilus) differ from the mainland E. r. rubecula by having a more strongly colored breast and a greenish, not grey tinge to the upperside. It also occurs on the Continental side of the English channel and as a vagrant in adjacent regions. Similar birds from Northwestern Africa, Corsica, and Sardinia are named E. r. witherbyi. The northeasternmost birds, large and fairly washed-out in color are E. r. tataricus. In the SE, E. r. valens of the Crimean Peninsula, E. r. caucasicus of the Caucasus and N Transcaucasia, and E. r. hyrcanus southeastwards of the latter are generally accepted as significantly distinct. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2560x1920, 1151 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): European Robin Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2560x1920, 1151 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): European Robin Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to... This article describes the archipelago in north-Western Europe. ... Satellite view of the English Channel The English Channel (French: , the sleeve) is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the island of Great Britain from northern France and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... For other uses, see Corsica (disambiguation). ... For the place in the United States, see Sardinia, Ohio. ... The Crimea (officially Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukrainian transliteration: Avtonomna Respublika Krym, Ukrainian: Автономна Республіка Крим, Russian: Автономная Ре&#1089... Transcaucasia is the name given to a region south of the Caucasus Mountains that covers Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. ...

On Madeira and the Azores, the local population has been described as E. r. microrhynchos, and although not distinct in morphology, its isolation seems to suggests the subspecies is valid (but see below). The most distinct birds are those of Tenerife and Gran Canaria (E. (r.) superbus), which may be a distinct species, the Tenerife Robin (as Erithacus superbus). It is readily distinguished by a white eye-ring, an intensely colored breast, and a grey line that separates the orange-red from the brown coloration. The belly is entirely white. Robins from the western Canary Islands - El Hierro, La Palma and La Gomera - on the other hand are indistinguishable from European E. r. rubecula. The term morphology in biology refers to the outward appearance (shape, structure, colour, pattern) of an organism or taxon and its component parts. ... Flag of Tenerife Tenerife in the Canary Islands chain. ... Gran Canaria, rarely Grand Canary (archaic), is the third largest island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago located in the Atlantic Ocean 210 km from the northwest coast of Africa and belonging to Spain. ... Anthem: Arrorró Capital Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife Official language(s) Spanish Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked 13th  7,447 km²  1. ... Hierro redirects here. ... Satellite image of La Palma, with the Caldera de Taburiente visible (north is to the lower right). ... La Gomera is the second smallest island of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. ...

While cytochrome b sequence data and vocalizations (Bergmann & Schottler 2001) indicate that the Tenerife/Gran Canaria robins are indeed very distinct and probably is derived from colonization by mainland birds some 2 mya^[2], the W Canary Islands populations are younger (Middle Pleistocene) and only beginning to diverge genetically. In addition, Tenerife and Gran Canaria birds are well distinct genetically and the latter have been named E. (r.) marionae; a thorough comparison between superbus and marionae is pending. Initial results suggest that Gran Canaria birds have distinctly shorter (c.10%) wings than Tenerife superbus. (Dietzen et al 2003) For other uses of mya, see mya (disambiguation). ... The Middle Pleistocene is the central part of the Pleistocene Epoch from about 780,000 YA to the penultimate cold pulse at about 125,000 YA. Millions of Years Categories: Graphical timelines | Geology stubs | Pleistocene ...

Other birds called "robin"

The larger American Robin, Turdus migratorius, is named for its similarity to the European Robin, but the two birds are not closely related. The similarity lies largely in the orange chest patch in both species. This American species was incorrectly shown "feathering its nest" in London in the film Mary Poppins, but it only occurs in the UK as a very rare vagrant. Binomial name Linnaeus, 1766 The American Robin (Turdus migratorius) is a migratory songbird of the thrush family. ... The orange, a fruit from which the modern name of the orange colour comes. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... For the 2004 stage musical, see Mary Poppins (musical). ...

The Australian "robin redbreast", more correctly the Scarlet Robin, is more closely related to the crows and jays than it is to the European Robin. It belongs to the family Petroicidae, commonly called "Australasian robins". Binomial name Petroica multicolor (Gmelin, 1789) The Scarlet Robin, is a common red-breasted Australasian robin in the passerine bird genus Petroica. ... For other uses, see Crow (disambiguation). ... Genera Garrulus Podoces Ptilostomus Perisoreus Aphelocoma Gymnorhinus Cyanocitta Calocitta Cyanocorax Cyanolyca The jays are several species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy passerine birds in the crow family Corvidae. ... Genera Poecilodryas Heteromyias Plesiodryas Gennaeodryas Peneothello Tregellasia Eopsaltria Melanodyas Monachella Microeca Eugerygone Petroica Pachycephalopsis Drymodes The bird family Petroicidae includes roughly 45 species in about 15 genera. ...

The Red-billed Leiothrix is sometimes named "Pekin Robin" by aviculturalists. Binomial name Leiothrix lutea (Scopoli, 1786) The Red-billed Leiothrix Leiothrix lutea is a member of the Old World babbler family. ... Aviculture is the practice of keeping and often breeding pet birds, generally companion parrots, and the culture that forms around it. ...

The Robin in culture

Engraving of Robin.

The "Robin Redbreast" has much folklore surrounding it and has become strongly associated with Christmas, taking a starring role on many a Christmas card. The Robin has also appeared on many Christmas postage stamps. Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Christmas (disambiguation). ... Some christmas cards A Christmas card is a greeting card that is decorated in a manner that celebrates Christmas. ...

An old English folk tale seeks to explain the Robin's distinctive red breast. Legend has it that when Jesus was dying on the cross, the Robin, then simply brown in colour, flew to his side and sang into his ear in order to comfort him in his pain. The blood from his wounds stained the Robin's breast, and thereafter all Robins got the mark of Christ's blood upon them. For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Folklore is the ethnographic concept of the tales, legends, or superstitions current among a particular ethnic population, a part of the oral history of a particular culture. ... This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. ...

Robins also feature in the traditional children's tale, Babes in the Wood; the birds cover the dead bodies of the children. Babes in the Wood is a traditional childrens tale, as well as a popular pantomime subject. ...

Britain does not have an official national bird. The Robin was the most popular bird according to readers of The Times in the early 1960s. Following this, despite some lobbying, the British government did not actively promote the concept of an official national bird. The Robin was used as a symbol of a Bird Protection Society for a few years only. The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom since 1788. ...

Two English professional football clubs are nicknamed "The Robins;" Bristol City and Swindon Town. The nickname is derived from both club's home colours being red. For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... A player (wearing the red kit) has penetrated the defence (in the white kit) and is taking a shot at goal. ... Bristol City is a football club in Bristol, England, which plays in Football League One. ... Swindon Town F.C. are an English football team. ... For other uses, see Red (disambiguation). ...

Notes and references

1. ^ British garden birds - lifespan. garden-birds.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-04-07.
2. ^ Although Dietzen et al (2003) conclude that both Tenerife and Gran Canaria populations are independently derived from mainland populations and should constitute two species or all be placed in E. rubecula as subspecies, their data does not allow for a definite conclusion. The alternative explanation - that Tenerife was colonized by already-distinct Gran Canaria robins - has not been explored and the proposed model relies only on probabilistic inference. Likewise, the seemingly exact molecular dating is doubtful as it assumes a molecular clock that may or may not be correct, and of course the assumption that the ancestor of all robins was similar in coloration to superbus and not the Continental birds is, being inferred from their model of colonization, entirely conjectural.

• Bergmann, H. H. & Schottler, B. (2001): Tenerife robin Erithacus (rubecula) superbus - a species of its own? Dutch Birding 23: 140–146.

• BirdLife International (2004). Erithacus rubecula. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern

• Dietzen, C.; Witt, H.-H. & Wink, M. (2003): The phylogeographic differentiation of the robin Erithacus rubecula on the Canary Islands revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequence data and morphometrics: evidence for a new robin taxon on Gran Canaria? Avian Science 3(2-3): 115-131. PDF fulltext

• Lack, David (1953): The Life of the Robin. Penguin Books.

• Pätzold, (1995): Das Rotkehlchen Erithacus rubecula. Neue Brehm-Bücherei 520. Westarp Wissenschaften/Spektrum, Magdeburg/Heidelberg. ISBN 3-89432-423-6

• Seki, Shin-Ichi (2006): The origin of the East Asian Erithacus robin, Erithacus komadori, inferred from cytochrome b sequence data. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39(3): 899–905. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.01.028

• Public Petition Committee of the Scottish Parliament. National Bird (PE783). 10 Nov 2004. Quoted from the Enterprise and Culture Committee Agenda (25th Meeting, session 2) on 31 Oct 2006 of the Scottish Parliament. [1]

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... The word probability derives from the Latin probare (to prove, or to test). ... Inference is the act or process of deriving a conclusion based solely on what one already knows. ... The molecular clock (based on the molecular clock hypothesis (MCH)) is a technique in genetics, which researchers use to date when two species diverged. ... Dutch Birding is an ornithological journal. ... The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species and can be found here. ... The World Conservation Union or International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Erithacus rubecula

• ARKive: Robin (Erithacus rubecula) images and movies. Retrieved 2006-NOV-30.
• BBC Science and Nature: The Robin, Britain's national bird. Includes photos and song. Retrieved 2006-NOV-30.
• BBC: European Robin song. Streaming Real Audio. Retrieved 2006-NOV-30.
• Birds of Britain: Robin. Retrieved 2006-NOV-30.
• Digidylan: hand feeding the robins. Retrieved 2006-NOV-30.
• Internet Bird Collection: European Robin videos. Retrieved 2006-NOV-30.
• RSPB: Robin (Erithacus rubecula). Retrieved 2006-NOV-30.
• iMeleon photography: European robin photos
• Quality European Robin Photographs [2]

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... RealAudio is a proprietary audio codec developed by RealNetworks. ... The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is Europes largest wildlife conservation charity. ...