Robin (Erithacus rubecula)
The Robin, known formerly as Erithacus rubecula, is arguably the first bird anyone is likely to learn as a child in the UK. In fact, so popular is the Robin that it was voted Britain’s favourite bird in the 2015 National Bird Vote, taking no less than 34% of the vote. Think of Christmas, and you’ll probably have a Robin somewhere in mind sitting on a snow-covered branch. However, despite the Robin’s friendly façade and unassuming manner, it is in fact a fiercely territorial creature and highly effective at driving away intruders, even larger ones. It’s no secret the Robin can punch above its own weight.
A relatively plump bird, the Robin features a bright orange-red breast with brown upper parts. Both male and female are similar in appearance and are hard to distinguish apart. Some suggest that females develop a more prominent “V” shape on the forehead while males are more “U” shaped; this, however, is barely noticeable, with some saying it’s negligible.
The sole evolutionary purpose of the orange-red breast is for territorial defence, not courtship. The posturing and prominence of colour is often enough to deter intruders, otherwise the Robin could resort to more direct intervention to defend its territory.
The Robin is a year-round, sedentary and resident bird, maintaining a specific area of territory, which it defends well. Over winter, native UK variants are joined by immigrants from Scandinavia, whose appearance is slightly paler, with a duller breast, than UK varieties. You’ll find Robins all over the UK, all year round. They generally occupy a breeding territory the size of 1/6 the size of a football pitch, or 0.55 ha in size. But all this is, of course, dependent upon the local environment. Given enough space, such as the Scottish pinewoods, there can be as few as 10 pairs per sq km.
The Robin has an incredibly interesting visual system, which has been extensively studied. Using a process known as “magnetoreception”, Robins are purportedly able to visualise the earth’s magnetic field, allowing them to navigate effectively. Despite this, the full details are not understood completely, and it is still an active area of current research.
| Territory | Number: breeding pairs |
|---|---|
| Europe | United Kingdom |
| Circa 60,000,000 | 6,700,000 |
Europe forms 75 – 94% of the global population. *The UK contains around 10% of the global population of Robins.
One interesting fact about the Robin is its keenness to rise early and be one of the first to tune up to Dawn Chorus with its fluting, warbling sound. Interestingly, Robins vocalise differently through the year, with a much more melancholy sound over winter, which become progressively chirpier towards the breeding period in spring.
If you’re lucky enough to have Robins visit your garden frequently, be aware they love to eat worms, seeds, fruit and insects. A favourite bird food is suet balls or one of our specially formulated premium mixes such as the Robin & Blackbird No Mess Mix.
Try our Interactive Robin
Simply hover over the image to learn more about the Robin.
Popular Robin food
Robin & Blackbird No Mess Seed Mix
Specially formulated for Robins and Blackbirds, this excellent all year round mix has been de-husked to reduce the mess underneath your feeders and keep garden birds coming back for more.
Dried Mealworms
Birds really love these dried mealworms. They have all the protein of live mealworms with less wastage, and an extra long shelf life. Use the mealworms alone, or mix with your favourite seed. No special storage conditions required.
Premium Suet Balls
Suet is absolutely essential for birds, providing instant energy which is just what they need. Our premium suet fat balls each contain over 90g of high grade, quality beef suet, blended with wheat, peanuts and dried mealworms. We guarantee your garden birds will love this energy-rich recipe.
Premium Insect Suet Pellets
Thrushes, Robins and Blackbirds will love these suet pellets containing a mixture of real insects. Extremely nutritious, they’re packed with energy, protein, vitamins and minerals which also makes them ideal for feeding during the breeding season.
I love having a Robin in my garden but I also have grey squirrels and they eat the food I leave out for my Robin…what can I do to make sure he gets fed ?
Enjoyed your article about the robin. I am confused as to how they eat fat balls as they do not appear to feed from the bird feeder so how should I present food for this very welcome and tame visitor to my garden.
I put a fat ball in the microwave on low to soften it, then mash it up with a fork and put portions out in 2 or 3 places in the garden. The blackbirds benefit as well as the robins.
I love the robin, it always is around in the garden and it feeds from the seed holders and also on the ground.
love the robin.last year for the first time i had the robin eating mealworms from my hand .with four young at my feet listening to their parents every command .it was the most wonderful feeling i have had.do hope i can do it again this year
Re feeding fat balls to robins I have found using a ground feeding table with a mesh cage with holes large enough to allow in ground feeders but not squirrels and I always put in fat balls as they stand up to UK weahter.
It would be great if you fact sheets were in a downloadable form, as they would lovely teaching resources. Copying and pasting doesn’t really work.
Hi Lindsay,
Ah yes, this may depend on the browser you use. I’ve taken a look for you, and with Firefox it is possible to put a page into “Reader View” mode, where it displays the basic reader information (text and images).
If you don’t have Firefox, which is just the same as Internet Explorer and Google Chrome, you can download it here.
Once you’ve done this, find the web page whose content you want to copy, and press the little book icon that’s to the right of the browser bar. Here’s an image to help you find it.
You should see the content turn into a more readable, simple style. It should be straightforward to copy and paste. If you do still have any problems getting the content, please either reply here or contact us at [email protected].
I have lots of robins that come to my garden to feed and I have noticed that whilst they seem to prefer to feed off the ground, mine have learned to feed from the hanging sunflower heart feeder. They are not as good at this as the blue tits and great tits, but they will grip one of the perches, take a single seed and fly off. Some are more practised at this than others!
Just started feeding the birds in our garden and what a treat is was. Never really had any success before in our previous house but today saw a pair of robins and a blue tit feeding on fat balls. Will get some meal worms and see how we go.