Whether you’re an experience birder, or a novice wanting to learn more about birds in your area, there’s always something new to learn about American Robins. Check out these 25 interesting facts about American Robins to learn all about these familiar songbirds.
25 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT AMERICAN ROBINS
With it’s red-breast and frequent, chipper call, the American Robin is one of the most easily identifiable birds in North America. They’re numerous and widespread across the United States and Canada —where they’re often spotted foraging on lawns, in parks, and other common areas. Though you’ve probably seen countless robins in your life, do you really know that much about them?
Take a look these fun and interesting American Robin facts that we’ve compiled for you, enjoy!
1. AMERICAN ROBINS BELONG TO THE THRUSH FAMILY
Thrushes include any species of the family, Turdidae, which belongs to the songbird suborder, Passeri. In general, thrushes have slender bills, long legs, a stocky body and rounded head. They typically vary from 4.5-13 in in length and are found world wide. Other examples of thrushes are the Common Blackbird, Bluebirds, Nightingales, the Veery and of course all the birds with thrush in their name like the Wood Thrush or Hermit Thrush.
2. AMERICAN ROBINS ARE THE LARGEST THRUSHES IN NORTH AMERICA
As far as songbirds go, American Robins are pretty big — they’re the largest thrush found in North America. They have large, round bodies with long tails and lanky legs. The other thrushes native to North America include Bluebirds, Wood Thrushes, Hermit Thrushes, Olive-backed Thrushes, and Gray-cheeked Thrushes.
3. AMERICAN ROBINS ARE OMNIVOROUS EATERS
American Robins eat a varied diet of insects, berries, fruits, and especially earthworms. It’s very likely to spot a robin while it’s foraging for earthworms on your lawn or holding one in its beak. They may also be a common sight at feeders, if you are offering suet with fruit in it or mealworms. They don’t normally eat seeds or nuts, but you may rarely catch them eating from a seed feeder.
4. EARTHWORMS ARE A KEY FOOD SOURCE FOR AMERICAN ROBINS
Though they eat a wide variety of foods, earthworms are the crucial ingredient in an American Robin’s diet. Worms and other invertebrates make up approximately 40 percent of these birds’ diets, and a single Robin can eat 14 feet of earthworms in a day. After the ground freezes in the winter worms are harder to come by, and robins will rely more on fruits and berries.
5. AMERICAN ROBINS RELY ON EYESIGHT TO CATCH WORMS
It was previously assumed that American Robins heavily relied on their sensitive hearing to locate worms moving underneath the soil. While that is true, they also use their eyesight more than you might think. Like most birds, American Robins have keen eyesight that helps them spot even the most subtle shifts around them when foraging for worms. They have monocular vision, meaning they’re able to use each eye independently to observe movement.
6. AMERICAN ROBINS CHANGE THEIR DIET SEASONALLY
If you’re a bird that lives year-round in part of the world where the climate changes with the seasons, you have to be pretty adaptable in terms of your diet. Robins will eat berries, fruits, worms and insects all year. However they sometimes have to rely more on one or the other depending on what is abundant at different times of year. Worms and bugs are more plentiful and easier to catch during the spring and summer. As the weather gets colder they will shift a lot of their diet over to fruits and trees that provide winter berries.