European Robin

NL: Roodborst
D: Rotkehlchen
F: Rougegorge familier

Latin name: Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758)

Bird group: Old World flycatchers and chats

Sound: Call out metallic ‘tick tick’, sometimes rattling briefly. Singing is heard all year round, loud, melodious and sparkling, from lofty singing post, but bird is seldom fully open.

Field characteristics: 14 cm. Easily identified by earth brown upperparts, white belly and undertail, and orange face and chest separated from upperparts by gray band. Eye large and dark, striking in even orange face. Sexes alike. Juvenile with orange-yellow spots, like a juvenile thrush or nightingale. Upright attitude. Usually not shy and easy to approach. In summer, territory is defended by pairs, in winter individual birds have a feeding territory, which is defended with great aggression. In winter, presence of territory is indicated by loud singing, also by female.

Appearance: Common resident, but summer visitor in the north and east.

Habitat: Moist deciduous forests with undergrowth. Avoids dense forest, dry coniferous forest and open areas such as fields, deserts, etc. Also prefers isolated bushes and hedges in open areas.

Food: Invertebrates, seeds and fruits. Forages mainly on the ground, also pecking impetuously in the ground to track down underground prey. Sometimes hunts from low vantage points.

Song/call: