American Robin (Crum Woods Biodiversity Guide)

American Robin

Turdus migratorius

Summary ⁴

The American robin (Turdus migratorius) 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 Old World 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, and Wisconsin. According...

Taxon biology ⁵

The American Robin (Turdus migratorius) breeds from most of Canada south, in the mountains, to southern Mexico. The winter range is shifted somewhat to the south. American Robins are found in cities and towns, on lawns, on farmland, and in forests. In winter, they are often associated with berry-bearing trees. In the arid southwestern United States, they summer mainly in coniferous forests in the mountains, rarely in the well-watered lowland suburbs. This common and widespread thrush is often seen running and hopping on lawns searching for earthworms, which are an important part of the diet, along with insects and berries (fruit may account for 60% of the diet year-round). Young are fed mainly on insects and earthworms. Contrary to popular belief, earthworms are located by sight, not sound. American Robins may nest in trees and shrubs, on eaves and ledges of barns, and even on window sills.

The American Robin's rich, rollicking song is often heard very early in the day in spring and summer, before first light. Males arrive on the nesting grounds before females and defend territories by singing (and sometimes fighting). In early courtship, females may be actively pursued by one or several males. The nest is built mainly by the female., usually1 to 8 m above the ground (up to around 20 m). The nest is a cup of grasses, twigs, and debris, worked into a solid foundation of mud and lined with fine grasses and plant fibers. The 3 to 7 pale blue eggs (usually 4) are incubated by the female for 12 to 14 days. Both parents feed the young, but the female more than the male. Parents are very aggressive in defending the nest. Young leave the nest around 14 to 16 days after hatching. Males may continue to care for the fledged young while the female initiates a second brood. In fall and winter, foraging American Robins may gather in large flocks. Migrating flocks often travel by day. Wintering range and migration habitats may vary a great deal from year to year and location to location, depending on weather and local food supplies.

(Kaufman 1996; AOU 1998; Dunn and Alderfer 2011)

Conservation status ⁶

American robins are successful birds, having been able to adapt to human alteration of the landscape. At one time, they were killed for meat in some southern States, and the meat was considered a delicacy. They are now protected throughout their range by the U.S. Migratory Bird Protection Act.

US Migratory Bird Act: protected

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: no special status

State of Michigan List: no special status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

Habitat ⁷

American robins occur mainly in woodlands, gardens, orchards, lawns, and fields. They prefer areas of open ground or short grass for foraging, with woodland or a few scattered trees and shrubs nearby for nesting and roosting. Suburban and agricultural areas often provide these kinds of habitats so American robins are common near humans. They need dense shrubs and small trees in which to build their nests. They build nests deep in dense foliage to protect their young from predators.

Habitat Regions: temperate ; terrestrial

Terrestrial Biomes: forest ; scrub forest

Other Habitat Features: urban ; suburban ; agricultural ; riparian

Iucn red list assessment ⁸

Red List Category

Least Concern

Red List Criteria

Version

3.1

Year Assessed

2012

Assessor/s

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s

Butchart, S. & Symes, A.

Contributor/s

Justification

This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be increasing, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is extremely large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

History

Least Concern (LC)
Least Concern (LC)
Least Concern (LC)
Lower Risk/least concern (LR/lc)
Lower Risk/least concern (LR/lc)
Lower Risk/least concern (LR/lc)

Sources and Credits

(c) Eric Heupel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.flickr.com/photos/34894709@N00/101735605
(c) Rob Curtis, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by Rob Curtis
(c) BJ Stacey, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8218/8292959330_558ffb9c29_o.jpg
Adapted by Amanda Carrillo-Perez from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turdus_migratorius
(c) Leo Shapiro, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://eol.org/data_objects/23798122
(c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31428446
(c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31428436
(c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34768212