European Robin: Species of bird

In English, this bird is usually just called a robin. In Britain, it is the most popular bird.

European robin
European robin
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Muscicapidae
Genus:	Erithacus
Binomial name
Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758)

The robin is an insectivore: it eats insects. It is a member of the order Passerine which makes it a perching bird. It has an orange-red breast and face, olive-brown wings and back, a white to light-brown belly. You can sometimes see a blue-grey fringe around the bottom part of the robin's red breast patch. European robins have brown legs and their tail is bluntly square. They have large, black eyes and a small black bill.

Some migrate, and some are resident. In the breeding season the red chest of the male gets a bit redder, and they are very territorial. No other male robin is allowed near, and they even fight other birds that come too close. The American and Australian robins are not closely related to this, the original bird to be named ‘robin’.