American Robin
American Robin
Scientific Name: Turdus migratorius
The American Robin is the state bird of Connecticut, Michigan and Wisconsin, the American Robin is a familiar songbird in the thrush family. They exist in towns and woodlands, and are commonly seen on suburban lawns exhibiting their "running and stopping" actions as they collect their morning worms.
The America Robin eats diverse things throughout the day, including earthworms in the morning, and fruits and berries in the late afternoon. They are frequently lively during the day and gather in great flocks at night to settle in trees in secluded areas.
The average life span of an American Robin is about 2 years, with a few living as long as 14 years. Robins are considered a representation of spring. The color of their eggs coined the name Robin's Egg Blue. American Robins are especially affectionate of bathing, and are very engrossed with backyard garden bird baths.
Distinctive Features: ruddy-orange breast and belly, white under tail coverts, dark head with semi-circle white eye hoop, marked throat, black back and wings, mainly yellow bill, the adolescent is paler in color with dark spots on its breast.
Male & Female Characteristics: the male's colors are brighter and his head is black, where the female's head is gray.
Breeding Season:
April - July, 2 -3 broods per season, one of the earliest North American birds to lay eggs.
Migration: most travel south to Florida, the Gulf Coast, central Mexico and Pacific Coast, returning north in February and March.
We have had five or six adult red robins this week in our back yard in Lodi California. We also have many white crowned sparrows, golden crown sparrows, Oregon Junco and other similarly sized birds that I can’t identify. I think some may be finches. Some appear to be marked and colored just like the adult red robin but are the size of the white crown sparrows. All the small birds seem to come and go together but when they are on the ground feeding they appear to play hide and seek. I am trying to identify the smaller bird that is colored like the adult red robin. Do you have a good web-site to suggest? Thanks.