Animal
European robin
The European robin is a small bird with an orange-red breast. It sings all year and likes to follow gardeners to find worms.
The European robin is a small songbird of Europe's woods, parks and gardens, famous for its orange-red breast. It sings almost all year round, even at night under streetlights, and it defends its patch fiercely. Young robins have no red breast at all: they are speckled with golden brown.
Erithacus rubecula is a small songbird of the family Muscicapidae, a different family from the American robin's thrushes (Turdidae). It ranges from Europe and North Africa to western Asia, is fiercely territorial and in Britain sings in almost every month; birds from northern and eastern Europe join British robins in winter.
Photo: Alexis Lours, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the European robin
The robin is a small, round bird.
It has an orange-red breast and face, a brown back and a white tummy. Baby robins are brown and spotty, with no red at all.
The European robin is a small songbird about 14 centimeters long, with a wingspan of 20 to 22 centimeters. It weighs about 14 to 21 grams.
Adults have a brown back, a white belly and an orange-red breast that stretches up to the throat and face. Males and females look the same. Young robins look very different: they have no red breast and are speckled all over with golden brown. The RSPB calls it the UK's favorite bird.
Erithacus rubecula is about 14 centimeters long with a 20 to 22 centimeter wingspan; the BTO gives an average adult mass of about 19 grams. The fact sheet places it in the family Muscicapidae, while the American robin belongs to the thrushes (Turdidae).
The sexes are alike: brown upperparts, a whitish belly and an orange-red breast, throat and face. Juveniles lack the red feathers entirely and are mottled with golden-brown spots. The RSPB calls it the UK's favorite bird.
Quick facts
- Group
- Bird
- Length
- 0.14 m
- Wingspan
- 0.2 to 0.22 m
- Weight
- 0.01 to 0.02 kg
Where it lives
Robins live in Europe and nearby places.
They live in woods, parks and gardens. Some robins fly south when winter comes.
European robins live across most of Europe and also in North Africa and western Asia. Their homes include woodlands, hedgerows, parks, cities and gardens. In Britain and Ireland they live almost everywhere, from Shetland to the Channel Islands, except the highest mountain tops.
Some robins stay in the same area all year. Others travel: in winter, robins from northern and eastern Europe come to Britain and join the robins that live there all year.
The IUCN lists the species as native across Europe, North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt) and western and central Asia, east to Iran and parts of Central Asia, with wintering birds in the Middle East, including Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
In Britain and Ireland, the BTO reports breeding in 94 percent of 10-kilometer squares, with highest densities in Ireland and southern England and lowest in uplands above about 400 meters. British robins are mostly resident, but birds from northern and eastern Europe arrive for the winter.
Continents
Its habitat
Where can you find this animal?
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
- Visits for part of the year · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Woodland, hedgerows, parks and gardens across Europe, North Africa and western Asia east to Iran and parts of Central Asia. Birds from the north and east move south and west in winter.
Places: Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia and 44 more places.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Counts of GBIF records of wild observations (human and machine) and preserved specimens. Records include introduced populations, vagrants, escaped or released animals and misidentifications, so a country with records is not necessarily part of the native range.
Wild sightings have been recorded in Sweden, UK, France, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Norway and 72 more places.
Source: gbif · checked October 2026
Visits for part of the year · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Places in the Middle East and Central Asia where the IUCN lists robins only outside the breeding season.
Places: Cyprus, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and UAE.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Range maps show where scientists say an animal lives, often country by country. An animal may live in only part of a country shown, and sightings records can include animals that wandered far from home.
A gardener's helper
Robins eat worms, bugs, seeds and fruit.
They follow people who are digging. Then they pounce on the worms that turn up!
Robins eat worms, insects such as beetles, and other small creatures, plus seeds and fruit.
Robins are famous for following gardeners. When a spade turns over the soil, a robin is often waiting nearby, ready to pounce on any worms and grubs. In winter, mealworms on a bird table are a favorite. In very cold weather, several robins may share one bird table, each trying to defend the food.
The RSPB lists worms, seeds, fruits, insects and other invertebrates in the diet; the Woodland Trust highlights beetles and earthworms. Robins readily exploit soil disturbed by people, which is why they are known for following gardeners and waiting for invertebrates to be unearthed.
Winter is the hardest season. The Woodland Trust notes that a robin can lose up to 10 percent of its body weight during a single freezing night, and BTO records show sharp drops in numbers after severe winters. Food such as mealworms on bird tables can help birds build fat reserves.
Did you know?
A robin can get much thinner on one cold night.
On a single freezing winter night, a robin can lose up to a tenth of its body weight.
The Woodland Trust reports weight losses of up to 10 percent in a single freezing night.
A red flag
The robin's red breast is like a flag.
It tells other robins: this place is mine! Young robins have no red breast yet.
The orange-red breast is not just for looks. The Woodland Trust explains that robins use it to defend their territory. Robins are so territorial that they have even been seen attacking stuffed robins.
Young robins have no red breast at first. They are speckled with golden brown instead, so a young robin and an adult look like quite different birds.
The Woodland Trust describes the red breast as a territorial signal: it is used in territory defense, and robins have been recorded attacking stuffed specimens, the red breast triggering the aggression.
Juveniles lack the red breast and are spotted with golden brown. Adults molt after breeding, in July and August, when they also sing much less. The bill is fine and pointed, and the diet includes insects, worms and other small invertebrates as well as seeds and fruit.
Growing up
The mother robin builds a nest close to the ground.
She lays four or five eggs. The chicks hatch after about two weeks.
The breeding season usually starts in March, or even January after a mild winter. The female builds a cup-shaped nest of moss, hair, grass and dead leaves, on or close to the ground. Robins nest in some surprising places: plant pots, post boxes, old barbecues and even car hoods.
She lays four or five creamy eggs with light brown speckles and keeps them warm for about 14 to 16 days. The chicks leave the nest about two weeks after hatching. A pair may raise two or three families in a season.
Breeding usually begins in March, as early as January after mild winters, and eggs are laid from mid-April to mid-August. The female builds a cup of moss, hair, grass and dead leaves on or near the ground, sometimes in odd man-made sites. BTO data give a typical clutch of four to five creamy, brown-speckled eggs, incubation by the female of 14 to 16 days and fledging after about 12.5 to 16 days; pairs make two or three breeding attempts a season.
Life is short: the BTO gives a typical life expectancy of two years for a bird that reaches breeding age, with breeding at one year old. The oldest ringed robin in Britain lived 8 years and 4 months.
Singing all year round
Robins sing almost every day of the year.
They sing to say: keep out! Some robins even sing at night under streetlights.
Robins are one of only a few birds in the UK that sing throughout the year. Their song is a high, sweet whistle made of short, gushing phrases with sudden pauses. They go quiet only in July and August, while they grow new feathers.
Robins defend their territories hard and are quick to drive intruders away. Robins near streetlights often sing at night. Yet with people, robins can be very tame, perching on a spade handle while you dig.
Robins sing in almost every month, falling quiet mainly during the post-breeding molt in July and August. The RSPB describes the song as a melodic, high-pitched whistle of short, two- to four-second phrases separated by abrupt pauses, and notes frequent night singing near streetlights.
Territoriality is intense, especially in the breeding season: the RSPB notes males may defend their patch sometimes to the death. In very cold weather, the BTO reports several robins sharing a bird table while each tries to defend the food. Toward people, by contrast, robins are often confiding.
Did you know?
Robins are on lots of Christmas cards.
Robins appear on Christmas cards partly because Victorian postmen in red jackets were nicknamed 'robins'.
The Woodland Trust links robins on Christmas cards to Victorian postmen, whose red jackets earned them the nickname 'robins'.
Is it in danger?
There are lots of robins.
They are not in danger. Very cold winters can be hard for them. Food on a bird table helps.
The European robin is not in danger. The IUCN Red List rates it Least Concern. In the United Kingdom there were about 7.4 million robin territories in 2016, and the number of breeding robins there has grown by more than half since 1967.
Harsh winters are a threat to robins. In the UK, numbers dropped sharply after three severe winters between 2008 and 2012, then recovered quickly.
The global assessment (IUCN, 2018) lists Erithacus rubecula as Least Concern, and the species is on the UK Green list. The BTO estimates 7.4 million territories in the UK (2016) and a 57 percent increase in the UK breeding population from 1967 to 2024; PECBMS data show an increase across Europe since 1980.
Annual numbers fluctuate, apparently with winter weather: the BTO notes sharp drops between 2008 and 2012, when three severe winters occurred, and after the 'Beast from the East' cold spell in early 2018, with quick recoveries each time.
IUCN Red List
How is the european robin doing in the wild?
- Least Concern (this animal)
- Near Threatened
- Vulnerable
- Endangered
- Critically Endangered
- Extinct in the Wild
- Extinct
Least Concern
Not at risk of disappearing from the wild right now.
See the IUCN Red List assessment · The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021.3
Amazing facts
-
Robins have even attacked stuffed robins!
Robins are so territorial that they have been seen attacking stuffed robins, because the red breast sets them off.
The Woodland Trust notes that robins attack stuffed specimens, the red breast triggering territorial behavior.
-
Robins have nested in plant pots and car engines.
Robin nests have been found in plant pots, post boxes, car hoods and even a plane engine.
The RSPB lists plant pots, car bonnets and a plane engine among recorded robin nest sites.
-
A robin can get much thinner on one cold night.
On a single freezing winter night, a robin can lose up to a tenth of its body weight.
The Woodland Trust reports weight losses of up to 10 percent in a single freezing night.
-
Robins are on lots of Christmas cards.
Robins appear on Christmas cards partly because Victorian postmen in red jackets were nicknamed 'robins'.
The Woodland Trust links robins on Christmas cards to Victorian postmen, whose red jackets earned them the nickname 'robins'.
Words to know
- territory
- an area an animal lives in and defends from others
- juvenile
- a young animal that is not yet grown up
- molt
- to lose old feathers and grow new ones
- resident
- staying in the same area all year
- migrant
- an animal that travels to a different place for part of the year
- hedgerow
- a row of bushes and small trees along the edge of a field
Discovery challenge
-
What color is a baby robin's breast?
What does a young European robin's breast look like?
How does juvenile plumage differ from the adult's on the breast?
- Speckled golden brown
- Bright red
- Bright blue
Show the answer
Speckled golden brown
Baby robins are brown and spotty, with no red yet.
Young robins have no red breast; they are speckled with golden brown.
Juveniles lack the orange-red breast entirely and are spotted golden brown.
-
Why does a robin show its red breast?
What does a robin use its red breast for?
What function does the red breast serve?
- To warn other robins away
- To keep warm
- To find water
Show the answer
To warn other robins away
The red breast tells other robins to stay away.
It is used to defend its territory against other robins.
It is a territorial signal; even stuffed robins with red breasts are attacked.
-
When do robins sing?
When can you hear European robins sing?
For how much of the year do European robins sing?
- Almost all year round
- Only on birthdays
- Never
Show the answer
Almost all year round
Robins sing almost all year, even at night sometimes.
They sing nearly all year, going quiet only in late summer.
Song continues through most of the year, dropping off only during the July and August molt.
-
Who do robins like to follow in the garden?
Why do robins often follow gardeners?
What do robins gain by following people who dig?
- People digging, to find worms
- Cats, to play
- Cars, to go fast
Show the answer
People digging, to find worms
They follow people digging, to catch worms.
Digging turns up worms and grubs, which robins pounce on.
Turned soil exposes earthworms and other invertebrates for them to eat.
Places where you might see it
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Identify the European robin and explain why young robins look different from adults.
- Explain how robins use their red breast and song to defend a territory.
- Describe the robin's nest, eggs and short life cycle.
- Explain how cold winters affect robin numbers and how people can help.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might it help a young robin not to have a red breast yet?
- Why do you think robins are so unafraid of gardeners?
- How might streetlights change the lives of birds?
Try at home or in class
- Turn over a small patch of soil in a garden or park and watch from a distance to see which birds come to look.
- Put out a small dish of mealworms or seed on a cold day and keep a tally of visiting birds.
Key vocabulary: territory, juvenile, molt, resident, migrant, hedgerow
Where these facts come from
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN terms of use (no redistribution of Red List data or range maps))
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and GBIF Occurrence Search , Global Biodiversity Information Facility (CC0 1.0 (backbone); occurrence counts are facts derived from records under CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC)
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Erithacus rubecula (European Robin), Red List assessment 2018 , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Robin , RSPB
- Robin BirdFacts , British Trust for Ornithology (BTO)
- Robin (Erithacus rubecula) , Woodland Trust
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file: Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA only (credited on each page))
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 28, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.