European Robin
The European robin (Erithacus rubecula) is a small, bold songbird with an orange-red breast, common in gardens across Europe. Experiments with robins revealed how birds may sense Earth's magnetic field.
The European robin (Erithacus rubecula) is a small, bold songbird with an orange-red breast, common in gardens across Europe. Experiments with robins revealed how birds may sense Earth's magnetic field.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open European Robin in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Reptilia lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
A Magnetic Sense: How Robins Find North
Caged migratory robins orient in the direction of migration in a magnetic field, even without seeing the sky. The leading explanation is that light-sensitive proteins (cryptochromes) in the eye form pairs of molecules with unpaired electrons, whose chemistry is influenced by the field direction.
Territorial Singers
Robins defend territories year-round and sing in winter, even at night near streetlights. Both sexes have red breasts, and they will fight rivals.
Garden Companions
The bird follows gardeners to catch disturbed worms, and is a cultural favorite of Britain, voted the national bird. See Common Swift for a very different migrant.
European Robin at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Erithacus rubecula |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Muscicapidae |
| Field Guide group | Reptilia: Aves (Birds) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Small plump brown bird with an orange-red face and breast; sings all year round and defends territories fiercely. |
| IUCN Red List status | Least Concern (LC), assessed 2018 |
| Family | Muscicapidae |
| Sense | Magnetoreception |
See Also
- Common Swift — another migrant
- Green Sea Turtle — another magnetic navigator