There are many species that are called robins, such as the spring blackbird or other birds that, as their name indicates, have red or orange breasts. However the european robin will be the protagonist of this entry to learn about its appearance, its behavior, how it feeds, how it reproduces, among other things.
european robin
It is commonly known as erithacus rubecula like robin or European robin, in any way it belongs to the family Muscicapidae and the order Passeriformes (the order that includes more species of birds than the others, more than half), it is called European robin because its distribution has covered the entire European continent and that is where it stays throughout the year. He does travel but he stays in northern Europe and if he moves a little further from home it is to go to the northwest of the African continent.
This species is associated with the god of thunder in Norse mythology: Thor, as it is a sacred bird for this deity. This immerses him in a symbolism within British culture that makes him the protagonist of stories and songs that are heard by children. That in ancient times, approximately from the middle of the 19th century onwards, this bird is related to Christmas and its image can be seen on many cards, postcards and Christmas products that are sent or used at the time.
This relationship with this holiday season is due to the fact that the postmen of England, Scotland and Wales (all of Great Britain) who carried the letters to their destination used a uniform that had an eye on their jackets, the robin began to appear on the cards as emblem of postmen who were called «Robins». For 2015 this bird was declared as a national bird although it is only a matter of making official a vote that had proposed it as a national bird years ago.
Even in other religious tales this bird has a presence being related to compassion after it was believed that it sang in the ear of Jesus when he was crucified, at that time this bird only had brown tones on its body but its chest turned red from the blood of Christ that stained him. Another story tells that his chest is that color because of the fire that burned him while he was carrying water to the souls that were in purgatory.
In addition to that, it also represents hope just as the dove represents peace, but all this symbology and tradition around the bird has not prevented it from being hunted and eaten, many people who have done so indicate that its fall is tender and they resemble it with that of the pigeon that is pleasant to the palate.
Its cultural presence doesn't just stop there, various institutions and organizations use the image of this bird to represent their clubs and keep the colors red and white to match. In sports there are several organizations that took it as an emblem because this bird is also a symbol of agility. It has also been an inspiration for poets and has appeared in their works.
In Belgium the bird protection organization LRBPO has it as part of its logo and in France it was used for the postage stamp. Since it was first mentioned in 1758, this bird has been part of the traditions of several European countries. Previously, the genus to which it belongs included other birds that are also called robins, but their differences separated them into different genera and families.
To create your name female robin and the male were analyzed and their orange chest caused them to be called robin. However, this bird when kept in captivity was called by human names such as Robin, Robinet, Robert, and Ruddock. In the literature it was not called European robin but English robin and there were also mentions of others such as French, Italian, Spanish or German robin that were birds that had other colors.
Actually it has been called in various ways but the robin has always been something common in the denominations, as well as the genus Erithacus to which it belongs together with the Mockingbird and other species.
Subspecies
As for the subspecies of this bird, nine of them have been discovered in different places on the continent:
- Erithacus rubecula balcanicus: This subspecies was seen on the Balkan Peninsula and is kept year-round in western Turkey.
- Erithacus rubecula hyrcanus: Kept in northern Iran and have also been seen in the southern Caucasus, these robins are large in size and somewhat different from the other subspecies to be mentioned.
- Erithacus rubecula melophilus: The British Isles are home to this type of robin and also in Northern Europe specifically in Scandinavia.
- Erithacus rubecula rubecula: It is found in Morocco (in the northwest), in the Azores region, in the Madeira and Canary Islands, as for the islands where it lives all year round are: El Hierra, La Palma and La Gomera. This is the main or nominal species.
- Erithacus rubecula superbus: It can be found in Tenerife (Canary Island).
- Erithacus rubecula marionae: It was seen for the first time in the islands of Gran Canaria and currently continues to live there.
- Erithacus rubecula tataricus: Large, multi-colored robins belonging to this subspecies can be seen on the Asian continent, specifically in Western Siberia.
- Erithacus rubecula valens: Returning to Europe, in one of its peninsulas called the Crimea, there are numerous valens robins that are also large like the tataricus and the hyrcanus.
- Erithacus rubecula witherbyi: Finally, the witherbyi robins, which have smaller wings than the other subspecies, can be seen in southern Spain and in other places such as Morocco, Algeria, Sardinia, Africa (northwest), among others.
All of them are kept in relatively small populations and are named in one way or another by the places where they are seen. Although some are significantly larger than others, all have in common the chest in shades of red or orange.
It has been indicated that other species of birds are also called robins, one of them is the American robin called Turdus migratorius. They are distinguished in their size but their orange chest resembles them so much that scientists relate them too much. American robins live in the UK and other robins such as Turdus thrushes live in South and Central America. In any case, although they look very similar, they are not really considered subspecies.
Canary robin
Of the subspecies mentioned, the marionae and the superbus are the ones that differ most from the others (besides the robin hyrcanus), these two subspecies are very different from the other seven because they have a white border around their eye, the color red or The orange on its chest is much more intense than that of other subspecies and the red in that area is separated by the brown of the rest of its body with a gray line, in addition to that they have white on the part of their belly and it is very striking.
These birds, as indicated, are found in Tenerife and Gran Canaria, where they have been kept for approximately 2 million years and at the beginning of that time they were already different from the other European robins. This differentiation in their appearance is attributed to their migration to these islands. Even between the two subspecies, it is sought to identify which of them is much more different from the others.
The marionae and superbus robins are considerably larger than the so-called Erithacus rubecula witherbyi, but those of Gran Canaria have slightly shorter wings than those found in Tenerife and are much younger than them.
The robin and electromagnetic fields
Something quite peculiar about this species of birds is their instinct that seems to allow them to feel the planet's magnetic field, other birds also have that instinct or as it is called "internal compass" that allows them to survive at night, especially those that migrate in these times of the day. Robins are one of those nocturnal migratory birds, although they are considered diurnal, that is why their sensitivity to the magnetic field and their vision is very useful.
When they are close to electromagnetic fields they tend to become disoriented, an example of which are those emitted by radio and surveillance equipment. Several experiments have been carried out to observe the behavior around the orientation of these birds when they are in cages near the ground or far from it.
Features
The head, face and chest of these birds is orange rather than red, when they are young they do not have a really orange chest but are brown and have some orange or red feathers, on the belly they have a striking white color and their legs are brown, its beak as well as its eyes are black. Some features are:
- Its body is round and has long legs, black and bluish-gray eyes on the neck, back and lower chest.
- It weighs between 16 and 22 grams and measures between 12,5 and 14.0 centimeters, making it a small bird.
- Some can be brown and white with orange spots but these can fade over time.
Behavior
The robin is considered a diurnal bird, although it usually migrates only at night and hunts at night where the light of the moon or electrical devices allows it to see much better. During the day they are also active but in these two aspects it is also considered nocturnal, in hunting against other birds they enjoy more caution than other small birds and do not seem to fear animals such as wild boars and other species that seek their food on the ground. .
However, the European robin, although cautious, is also extremely aggressive when it comes to a territorial fight, they can ferociously kill males that wish to occupy their territories. Not only do they become aggressive to defend their home, they seem to like to attack smaller birds for no reason or themselves when seen on surfaces that reflect their image. The latter has been seen frequently and is what has caused many of them to die as adults.
As for its reaction to humans, the European robin does not seem to be very scary and it has been seen how it looks carefully when men dig the earth, they also dig to find earthworms.
That is why it is related to the gardeners for their work on the land and between these workers and these birds there is also a traditional relationship. In addition to that, robins are seen a lot in gardens (almost all of Europe in fact) because they are their favorite places to find their food, it is understandable because there are mealworms or earthworms that are part of their diet .
They are usually kept almost all year round at home because they really do not resist very low temperatures, so they are considered as domestic birds that are kept there to feed and not die, knowing that their mortality in large numbers is the product of several factors. During their stay at home they amuse themselves by watching the gardeners plow the land, aggressively defending their territory and looking for food to have their reserve for the winter.
Not only are the male European robins the ones that ferociously defend their territory, but the females are also in charge of this because, as they are such familiar birds, they cannot be without a territory for a long time. Another cause of death is the lack of territory, so this explains the aggressiveness and energy with which they defend their home.
When they are not defending their territory, they usually walk through the gardens of the big cities and the small ones where they spend the winter, while during the summer they are usually in the forests, hedges and in places where there is dense undergrowth. Their favorite places to sleep are ivy and bushes, although they sometimes build their nests to spend the nights when they are not hunting. There are certain locations in Europe where these birds stay close to human presence throughout the year.
Regarding their life expectancy, there is an important point which is that during their first year in the world many of them die and that is why the average lifespan is 1 year and a little more approximately, however, if they do not die in that time they can reach the age of 19 years. Clearly they must be kept with care in very cold environments because they do not resist low temperatures, in addition to that another cause of death is a parasite called "flea of the moors".
Food
It has been recorded that in the autumn and winter times these birds tend to eat spiders and worms in greater quantity, as well as pieces of fruit, seeds and berries that the people of Europe place within their reach. The rest of the year they can eat mealworms, seeds, nuts and food that humans give them, such as breadcrumbs, butter, meat (very fatty), potatoes, peanuts, raisins, insects, oatmeal, fruits and other things. In general they usually find their food on the ground.
Habitat of the robin bird
It has been mentioned above that the European robin is one of the flightless birds over large territories to migrate throughout the year, they inhabit much of the European continent from Eurasia to Western Siberia, Algeria, Azores and Madeira. They also live in Ireland and they reside there but mostly those that are males, the females do tend to travel south when they are going to emigrate.
Those living in Scandinavia migrate to Western Europe and Great Britain as winter approaches, but tend to migrate mainly to North Africa from September to April. They also often go to France when it's winter. These birds were attempted to live in Australia and North American cities, but none of the families that were moved survived.
Reproduction
A male European robin can be kept alone all winter and autumn, they keep their distance from the females and they from them at those times. the season of reproduction in birds of this species begins in March for those who live in Great Britain or Ireland, when they remain in pairs they usually look for various places to take refuge and build a nest. They build them with grass, leaves, feathers or moss and line them several times to withstand the five or six eggs that the females lay.
These eggs are usually white, beige, or cream in color with brown spots and red tones. In fact, when they are born they have brown spots all over their body and after three months have passed their orange feathers begin to grow on the lower part of the chin, until those feathers spread all over their chest and by the time they are adults they already have their characteristic red chest.