ORANGE BIRDS SEEN IN NORTH AMERICA

European Robin

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Erithacus Rubecula

European Robin

Males and females are similar. Crown, nape and upper parts, including wings and tail are soft brown. There is a fine buffy wing bar that is sometimes indistinct.

The face, throat and chest are bright red-orange, bordered with gray except on forehead. The underparts are rather whitish with pale reddish-brown flanks.

Eyes are dark brown. The very fine legs are pinkish-brown.

Juveniles are brown overall, with the plumage mottled of paler brown. The underparts are paler and speckled with beige or pale brown.

The red-orange spot is absent and will appear only after the first molt, two months later approximately.

BILL: dark, short and thin.

SIZE: measures about 5 - 5.5 inches in length, with a wingspan of 8 - 9 inches.

WEIGHT: weighs about 16 - 22 grams.

COLOR: brown, buff, bright red-orange, reddish-brown, gray and white.

Insects, spiders, fruits, berries and seeds. It also consumes earth worms.

Forests, natural wooded areas, hedges, parks and gardens; various kinds of shrubby covers in more open areas.

Europe and the United Kingdom, North Africa, to East of Siberia and Iran, the islands of the Atlantic such as Madeira, Canary Islands and the Azores.

SONG: A series of chirp phrases, soft and clear sounds and of short trills stopping abruptly.

CALL: A dry “tic”, repeated and uttered in short series, “tic-tic-tic…”. It also utters a short, tiny, shrill and a plaintive call “siiih” when it is anxious or alarmed.