The robin heralds spring! The robin, or robin, is a small beautiful bird of the thrush family. From above, it is olive-brown, the forehead, cheeks and goiter are bright red, as if reflected. It has a whitish belly and a light crimson chest.
The coloring of the female is beautiful, but the old handsome male, who also has a bright red throat and goiter, fascinates with his outfit. Young birds are motley: brown above with reddish spots, wings, throat, crop, chest and sides of the body are reddish-ocher, and the belly and undertail are whitish, but not as good as adult males.
Pictured is a female robin
The robin lives in both lowland and mountain forests. Most often nests in cluttered places. It is also found in vegetable gardens and orchards. Nests are often built simply, under bushes and trees, hiding them in roots, stumps and other secluded places.
Pictured is a male robin
The nest is soft, skillfully woven from dry grass stems and leaves, lined with fluff inside. The eggs are whitish-pinkish-yellow with red spots.
Robins arrive from the south quite early, approximately in the middle of March, sometimes at the end, when there are still frosts. They fly apart - first the males, then the females. Males take a fancy to nesting sites, build nests so stubbornly defend their territory, so that at first even females are not allowed.
Robins are very cautious: it is difficult to get close to them. Skillfully take away from the nest of enemies. First, they jump on the ground, then take off on a branch, again begin to move by jumping or flying from branch to branch. The disturbed robin flies either clumsily, then hovering, then bouncing in the air, although in general it flies well.
The robin hatches its first chicks in May. If there is plenty of food, there may be a second clutch. The female incubates the eggs for two weeks, and then the chicks live in the nest for the same amount. They are very insatiable, so both parents have to bring food to the nest almost three hundred times a day. Leaving the nest, the chicks do not know how to fly well, but they run quickly in the grass.
Parents feed their children outside the nest for about two more weeks and warn of the danger with a low “qi-i-i”. Having become completely independent, the chicks of the first brood fly away, and the parents take up the rearing of the second brood, and everything starts all over again.
The robin has a lively and cheerful disposition. During the day, she almost never flies high on open area. Perhaps due to the fact that it is too tiny, and flies slowly, and therefore can easily become the prey of birds of prey.
But how beautifully she sings - especially at dawn and after sunset. Her song ends with a melodic chime that sounds like a silver bell. Unlike other songbirds, it does not stop even in autumn, going south, but this singing is inferior in beauty and duration to spring. This bird is extremely sociable.
They say that there are times when she takes care of another bird when she is sick and cannot forage on her own. Feed her until she gets stronger. If a robin sees hungry chicks in someone else's nest, it suddenly starts to feed them. This happens when both parents or one of them died, and the second is not able to feed the entire brood.
The robin feeds on small insects, spiders, and in autumn seeds and berries. Useful for the forest, because it regulates the number of insects and spreads the seeds of shrubs.
The robin is a favorite bird in the UK, where it stays to spend the winter. There she adapted so well to people, she takes food right from the hands.
The English explain their fondness for the robin by saying that they like the wonderful red breast, hopping on the ground, cheerful disposition and melodious singing. How does a robin sing? We listen to the video.
robin video
This bird is commonly called the robin. A small bird can be found in everyday life quite often. Although its main habitat is forests, it can be seen in parks and gardens.
The robin is distinguished by its high speed. She is very active and almost never sits in one place, flying through dense foliage in search of insects. Robin is very interesting bird. You can watch her for hours without getting tired and learn a lot of interesting things about the life of a bird with a beautiful breast.
Habitat
The robin bird can be found in every corner of Russia, including Siberia and the northern regions of the country. Robins can be found in Africa and Asia. They do not live in America and Australia, although at one time they tried to settle there.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the robin again tried to spread throughout the world. This time, Oregon became the place of residence. But this time the attempt did not justify the hopes of ornithologists.
For the growth of a colony of these amazing birds a deciduous forest with dense branches is required. Even if the robin has chosen a park or garden as the place of its home, then it will be populated only in places where there are a lot of bushes. It is in the dense branches that the robin makes its nest and breeds.
The way of life for individual regions of habitat is different. Robin, living in the southern parts of the planet, leads a sedentary lifestyle, without flights during the winter period. Northern robins, on the other hand, are prone to a nomadic lifestyle. They fly, like swallows, to warmer climes for the winter, and in the spring they return home again.
The robin will never breed in foreign territory. Even during long flights to a warm area, they will definitely return and only then will they breed chicks.
Characteristic
The robins are very small in size. Their body length does not exceed 16 cm. hallmark robin is what she has orange spot on chest covering the entire chest area.
The wings and tail are about 7 cm long. The weight of this little bird is also small, only 22 grams. In addition to flights, the bird often moves in small steps.
Its most common habitat is dense branches. Due to its activity, the robin is constantly on the move, studying the space around it, and at the same time is looking for food for itself and its chicks.
Robin is not at all afraid of people, or rather, she simply does not notice them. Often there are cases when a summer resident digs the ground in his garden, and a motley bird jumps around him in anticipation of the next worm.
The robins show their activity in the daytime, but they begin to sing in the early morning, before the heat sets in. At the robin a very beautiful voice, which is rightfully considered one of the most beautiful sounds in wildlife.
Like many birds a male is considered a good singer. But the females are not inferior to him in voice, although their sound is a little poorer.
Males with an orange breast are characterized by increased aggression. They, that there are forces, protect not only their female, but also the territory on which he lives. Very often skirmishes occur among males, which can end in death for one of them. That is why the birds prefer to live with families rather than unite in colonies.
Robins are affected by light, which can confuse them. It often happens that a luminous lantern or a light in a window can make them sing their song after night time.
Appearance
It is enough just to look at the robin once and remember it for the rest of your life. A small bird with an orange spot in the chest area, with long brown legs and a dark beak, will forever leave a mark in the memory of every person. The bird is so small that it can fit in two palms of a child.
Feathers in the upper region of the head, back and wings, as a rule, have a greenish tint. This coloring helps the robin merge with the foliage and not be seen by enemies. The anterior part of the bird is characterized orange color. It spreads from the forehead to the chest.
Like many birds, the male robin has a richer color than the female. But both individuals are endowed with long legs that allow them to briskly jump through thick grass.
The beak is small. Pretty sharp. It is ideal for catching small insects that are part of the nutritious diet of these cute birds.
The paws are equipped with sharp claws, with the help of which the robin clings to a branch and stands firmly on it. The tail is small and flat. Regardless of gender, the color is always the same, with the exception of saturation. Females can be distinguished from males by their size.. The females are slightly smaller.
Peculiarities
The average life expectancy is about 5 years. Although there were individuals who lived for 12 years. There is a very high mortality rate among the younger generation. This is due to aggressive behavior towards each other. According to the statistics provided by ornithologists, we can say that if the robin did not die in the first year of its life, then most likely it will live to old age.
Nutrition
The main insects included in the diet:
- beetles;
- bedbugs;
- spiders;
- various larvae;
- worms.
As mentioned, in addition to insects, robins prefer to include berries in their diet.
Favorite berries:
- Rowan;
- currant;
- blackberry.
In autumn and winter, birds do not disdain to eat from human hands. They will do it with pleasure and without any fear. Because it is well understood that at this time of year it is quite difficult to find your favorite food on your own.
Ant eggs are one of the most delicious and favorite dishes. Only one family for the summer season is able to destroy all the ants in the area. For these reasons, experienced gardeners try to lure these birds to their site.
reproduction
The robin builds its nests in dense branches of bushes. The most common places for this are raspberries and gooseberries. Nests are built from grass mixed with moss.
Birds insulate their nests with fluff. Sometimes even pieces of cotton wool can be found in the nests. The size of the nest is 7 cm in diameter and about 5 cm high.
After the nest has been built, the female lays up to 7 yellowish eggs. After half a month, the chicks are born. After 15 days, the chicks leave their nest. But periodically they return to their parents to once again feast on another worm or insect. In one season, robins can breed several times.
This bird has a lot of worthy qualities that make it one of the most attractive and beautiful birds worldwide.
The robin (robin) is the most numerous bird in the thrush family. This big-eyed, curious creature with a reddish chest must have met you in the forests, parks and gardens, where it has settled since the beginning of April. And it is impossible to forget her trills, similar to bells, even having heard only once.
The robin bird is popularly considered a close relative of the nightingale, thanks to its amazing song, similar to a silver bell. Early morning begins with these sonorous iridescent chants and ends a long, busy day at sunset. Therefore, they called the wonderful bird a robin.
But sometimes her gentle tunes are heard in the transparent summer twilight, then they seem especially magical.
The robin is a migratory bird
In March - April, as soon as thawed patches appear, along with spring streams, the song of the robin begins to ring. This means that the male flew in to find a place for nesting: in dense bushes, under the roots of trees, and sometimes in hollows. The caring head of the family protects his territory, notifying by singing that the site is occupied, and if necessary, he uses force. Later, a female flies to the conquered place and the construction of the nest begins.
How a nest is built
The robin is a bird that is not afraid of the proximity of human dwellings. Therefore, in May, her neat nests, similar to small wicker baskets, with five or six pale pink, brown-speckled testicles can also be found in dense raspberry bushes in her own garden. The main thing is not to touch them, so as not to frighten away the diligent parents, who take turns hatching future offspring.
The appearance of offspring
In two weeks, tiny naked chicks will appear in the clutch, which after only 14 days, having not even learned to fly, will leave the nest. The babies will jump in the grass, freezing and puffing up at the danger, about which they will be warned by their parents, who vigilantly guard their brood and continue to feed it.
But the robin is a bird that makes two clutches per season, and therefore, as soon as the breast of the grown chicks becomes bright, they will be ordered to enter the parental territory. For a male robin, an orange breast is a sign of a rival.
No wonder this amazing songbird is so loved to be kept in the house. Already on the second day after the capture, the robin begins to sing. This is a rather unpretentious bird. But the main features of her character can be considered quarrelsome and pugnacious. Therefore, it is not worth keeping a robin in a common cage with other birds. But alone, like most choristers, it will delight you with its marvelous trills all year round.
Do not forget that the robin is a bird that loves to swim. Therefore, change her water at least twice a day. Feed your pets insects and special mixtures of seeds and grains. Domestic birds should be pampered with berries (best of all, elderberry).
It should be said that the robin gets used to the person feeding it very quickly and willingly takes food from the hands.
The robin bird, whose photo you see in the article, will surely become your pet, which even in the middle of winter brings a breath of spring and warmth into the house.
Robin is a small bird, which is also called robin or repolov ( Erithacus rubecula), is found literally everywhere in Europe, except for the extreme north. Red-breasted robins from Russia and Scandinavia fly to warmer climes for the winter (to us in the British Isles and western Europe), but they are among the first to return home with spring warmth
Here in England robin from the continent are quite shy and mostly settle in the forests, unlike the British robins (E.r. melophilus). Local robins they have a brighter chest color and behave more relaxed in their homeland, preferring to live in city parks and private suburban gardens. There they breed and entertain the owners with their songs, which do not stop even in winter. Singing robin in our area becomes especially intense around Christmas, when they begin to look into other people's territories, looking for a mate. By mid-January, the pairs are usually already formed and the female robins stops singing - now she has other worries.
Small graceful gray robins both sexes have a bright orange breast, which makes it easy to distinguish the bird from others. It's interesting that repolova chicks are born with a brownish-brown color, and orange feathers on the breast grow only by 3 months of age. This allows robin chicks feed with impunity on the territory of adult males of their species, which are extremely aggressive in protecting "their" area.
Male robin occupies a certain territory (and sometimes - as many as two!), Which can keep for a lifetime (up to 5 years!). He will defend this place from other males to death - his or his rival. famous trills robins sung in the 80s hit " The robins heard a voice...", are actually a warning to other males that this territory is already occupied. Some observations of garden robins show that not only males, but also females have such an attitude to the occupied territory. robin. Vote robins both sexes are identical. I wonder what singing robins sometimes extends well past midnight, especially if street lights lit all night are confusing robin living in private suburban gardens.
Robins they feed on insects and worms and often actually watch over gardeners who are busy digging or loosening the soil. We have seen many times in our garden robin Literally a meter away. It is worth turning away for a minute, as this brave bird immediately jumps up and grabs a worm that has appeared at the wrong time from the loosened soil. Besides worms, robin prefer to pick garden berries and fruits from the ground. They will not refuse the grains that wake up from the feeders. Eat from hanging feeders robin not easy, unlike titmouse, for example. Robins they are not accustomed to cling to the feeder with their paws, hovering over it to grab a grain. to feed robins, we often scatter food directly on the ground.
Robin and Christmas
Loved everywhere robin left a noticeable mark in European folklore. In Norse mythology robin She was the petrel of Thor, the god of thunder. According to ancient tradition, robin scorched her breasts in the fire of Purgatory when she carried water for suffering souls. An old British parable tells how a gray robin she sang her beautiful songs for the dying on the crucifixion of Christ, in order to ease his pain and suffering. According to another version, the little robin tried to free Jesus from the crown of thorns, which stuck into his head. So chest robin blushed with the blood of Christ.
Another belief says that fearless robin flapped her wings to help the Virgin Mary keep the barnyard fire going when all the other animals refused to do so. A small gray-brown bird, unafraid of the embers, flapped its wings and sang until it revived the fire. After robin collected and carried wood for the fire, which warmed the baby Jesus. One of the burning rods seared the fearless bird's chest red-hot. In gratitude for the help robins The Virgin Mary proclaimed that all the descendants of this noble bird will be proud of the beautiful orange breast.
From the middle of the 19th century robin is an invariable symbol of Christmas in the UK. Her Majesty Queen Victoria's postmen often worked even on Christmas Day. They wore red uniforms, which earned them the nickname " red-breasted robins" (Robin Redbreasts). Ever since then, a popular Christmas card story has been robin next to the red mailbox is the symbol of a postman delivering traditional packs of postcards and gifts for Christmas in Britain. Since the 1960s robin is the unofficially recognized national bird of Great Britain and, undoubtedly, the most beloved.
Hare, robin as it is also customary to call it, it belongs to the thrush family. Many people confuse robin or robin, but this issue is easy to understand, the name of the bird comes from the word "dawn", since it is at this time that they begin their singing.
The robin, a bird of small size, about 14 cm long, and has a wingspan of up to 20 cm, weighs up to 16 g. soft structure, so it seems plump.
The male is always slightly larger than the female, while they have the same color: the back has a brown tint, the feathers on the side and on the neck are bluish. The orange spot on the neck is the main difference from other birds.
photo of robin you can see on this page, admire it, if there is no way to see the bird with your own eyes. You can even listen to the audio of her singing. The robin moves in small jumps, has long legs.
The main feature of this colorful bird is its voice. Her trill is beautiful and unusually pure. Robin can sing for a long period without ceasing. It can be heard both early in the morning and late at night.
With its singing, the robin not only pleases the ear of a person, but also attract partners to itself. The male determines his territory by the sounds he makes.
Such an amazing bird as a robin can be found in Europe and Africa. And also in Russia, throughout its European part. Their habitat is in the forest, but not infrequently they settle in parks overgrown with trees.
The bird does not like clean and bright pine forests; it likes thickets of hazel and alder. At the present time, a large number of forests are cut down, so the robin plucked up courage and began to build their nests in the gardens, not being afraid of people.
The nature and lifestyle of the robin
Zaryanka is migrant. She arrives at nesting sites when the first buds have not yet hatched on the trees. During this period, you can hear her flooding singing all day long.
When the trees are leafing out, songs are heard only in the mornings and evenings. Robin, chaffinch and thrush create magical melodies that you want to enjoy forever.
The robin bird is very friendly, not afraid of people, lets them get very close, sometimes even lets them touch it. In cold weather, it can fearlessly fly into the house.
As for other birds, it is very difficult for the robin to settle down with them in the same territory. They are loners on their own, but can be seen getting into fights with other birds. Most often males hooligan, carefully protecting their territory. The result of such a showdown is the mortality of birds, up to 10%.
Robin nests are not built on branches, like many birds, but on the ground or stumps. To do this, they use various blades of grass and foliage. Preference is given to areas where nearby water bodies are located.
Can't get by in description of the robin no shedding period. Little chicks do not yet have an orange breast, only gaining strength a little, entering into adulthood their plumage changes and acquires the usual color.
Robin bird food
The more thickets there are in the habitats of the robin, the more varied the diet will become. In such an area, it is easier to find spiders, beetles, worms, etc. Insects are the main food of the bird in the summer. In winter, the robin feeds on berries and seeds. Preference is given to mountain ash, elderberry, currant, spruce seeds.
As already mentioned, the robin is very friendly towards people, so it flies to the feeders with pleasure. Also willingly, she can settle with a person. In this case, you need to be prepared for the fact that the beautiful song of the robin will be heard every morning.
The robin is often found near gardeners and gardeners to feast on delicious seeds. And also participates in the extermination of unnecessary insects.
The robin is a favorite of many. In particular, children love to take care of her, preparing this vociferous bird. It is known that it is quite difficult for a robin to eat from a feeder, since she is not used to clinging with her paws.
Therefore, it is preferable to scatter food on the ground. It is possible even in school curriculum meet essays on the topic robin. The robin is most respected and adored in Great Britain, it is even, according to the unofficial version, I am the national bird. Since the 19th century, it has been a Christmas symbol.
It is also believed that the brave robin helped the Virgin Mary to keep the fire going by carefully flapping her wings. And then she brought brushwood so that it would not go out, thus warming Jesus.
Reproduction and lifespan of the robin
Males appear at nesting sites in early spring, while females arrive in mid-May and immediately start nesting. A place for future offspring is located in the roots or cracks of trees, the bases of shrubs.
Robin eggs
It must be covered with something from above, whether it be a root or a protruding stone. The nest is covered with grass and leaves, has a loose structure. Robin can lay up to 7 eggs at a time, they have a yellowish color with orange specks.
Both parents take turns incubating the eggs, or only the mother, and the father willingly takes care of his family. This period lasts for 14 days.
Newly hatched robin chicks
Little chicks are born without plumage and live in their nest for about two weeks. After this time, they fly out, although they stay near their mother for the first 6-7 days.
After that, they begin an adult independent life. A female can produce two offspring per year. The robin is a very caring mother, so it is not uncommon for her to take care of cuckoo chicks.
Robin chicks
Unfortunately, beautiful and sonorous robin bird lives for only a few years. Significantly reduce the life of a small bird, its enemies - falcons and owls. Predators also hunt for eggs.
Basically it can be a fox, ferret, weasel, wild cat. Despite the large number of enemies and the reduction of forests, the number of European Robins does not fall. They manage to adapt to different conditions.
