WINTER BACKYARD BIRDS (U.S. AND CANADA)

American Robin

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Turdus Migratorius

American Robin

Head varies from jet black to gray, with white eye arcs and white supercilia, their throat is white with black streaks, belly and undertail coverts are white. They have a brown back and a reddish-orange breast, varying from a rich red maroon to peachy orange and their legs and feet are brown.

Males and females look similar, but the females tend to be duller than the males, with a brown tint to the head, brown upperparts, and less bright underparts.

Juveniles are paler than the adult males and have dark spots on the breast, as well as whitish wing coverts.

BILL: mainly yellow with a variably dark tip.

SIZE: large, measuring about 10 - 11 inches in length with a wingspan ranging from 12.2 - 16 inches.

WEIGHT: average weight of about 77 grams, males ranging from 72 - 94 grams and females, 59 - 91 grams.

COLOR: jet black, gray, white, brown, reddish-orange, red maroon, and peachy- orange.

Primary Diet: omnivore.

Animal Foods: birds mammals amphibians reptiles eggs carrion insects terrestrial non-insect arthropods mollusks terrestrial worms.

Plant Foods: seeds, grains, and nuts fruit.

Woodlands, gardens, orchards, lawns, and fields.

North America, from Alaska and Canada southward to northern Florida and Mexico. Spends winter South of Canada from Florida and the Gulf Coast to Central Mexico, and the Pacific Coast.

Males have a cheerily carol song. Their alarm sounds like PEEK!! tut tut tut tut... often preceded by an explosive seeech each-each-each.

NEST: the female builds a deep, sturdy cup made of long coarse grass, twigs, paper, and feathers woven together with the inner bowl lined with mud, smearing it with her breast and fine grass or other soft material to cushion the eggs.

EGGS: 3 - 5 light blue eggs.

INCUBATION: 12 - 14 days, female only.

FLEDGLING AGE: 13 days.

Active mostly during the day, and on its winter grounds, it assembles in large flocks at night to roost in trees in secluded swamps or dense vegetation. The flocks break up during the day when the birds feed on fruits and berries in smaller groups. During the summer, they defend their breeding territory and are less social. They make alarm calls and dive-bomb potential or real predators.

The oldest recorded American Robin was 13 years and 11 months old.