American Robin
Turdus migratorius
Summary 6
The American Robin (Turdus migratorius), also known as the robin, is a migratory songbird of the thrush family. It is named after the European Robin because of its reddish-orange breast, though the two species are not closely related, with the European robin belonging to the flycatcher family. The American Robin is widely distributed throughout North America, wintering from southern Canada to central Mexico and along the Pacific Coast. It is the state bird of Connecticut, Michigan,...
Habitat and ecology 7
Systems
- Terrestrial
Associations 8
American robins are important as prey items to their predators because there are so many of them. They also act to control some insect populations and to disperse the seeds of the fruits they eat.
Ecosystem Impact: disperses seeds
Ecology 9
Defends nesting territories but may also use undefended feeding grounds up to 300 meters distant (Knupp et al. 1977).
Behaviour 10
Soon after hatching nestlings begin to beg for food by chirping. Adult American robins use chirping or chucking to warn of the presence of a predator. Males begin to sing in the late winter and early spring. This song is a familiar sound in the springtime and sounds something like 'cheerily, cheer up, cheer up, cheerily, cheer up.' American robins sing frequently throughout the day, but particularly early in the morning. They most often sing from a perching spot high in a tree.
Communication Channels: visual ; acoustic
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Sources and Credits
- (c) Eric Heupel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.flickr.com/photos/34894709@N00/101735605
- (c) Brocken Inaglory, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Turdus_migratorius_with_worms_1.jpg
- (c) SalvadorDalaiLama, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3352/3627007352_d97a85b402.jpg
- (c) Ltshears, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/American_Robin_0026.jpg/460px-American_Robin_0026.jpg
- (c) Rob Curtis, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by Rob Curtis
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turdus_migratorius
- (c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34768214
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31428443
- (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28917328
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31428440
