Robin

The robin is a songbird. It is one of the best known songbirds in Europe. Males and females look alike. They are roundish in shape and easily recognised by their red-coloured throats. This is where their name comes from. This patch of colour runs from the face down the neck to the breast.

The rest of the plumage is brown and grey. A robin weighs about 15 grams and is about 13 cm tall. The robin is at home in Europe, North Africa, parts of Turkey and on most Mediterranean islands.

In our country, the robin stays all year round. In northern Germany, however, the robin is also a migratory bird. So it flies south to spend the winter there.

The robin can still be found frequently. The greatest danger is that its natural habitats are disappearing more and more because more and more land is being heavily used by humans. Due to pollution and poisons in agriculture, it finds less and less food in many places. In some areas, songbirds like the robin are also still hunted.

Robins only live for a little over a year on average. The worst for them are very cold winters. Despite all this, however, they are not endangered. The oldest robin known to exist, however, lived to be over 17 years old.

The robin has been "Bird of the Year" twice in Germany, the first time in 1992. In 2021, it was chosen again as "Bird of the Year". The Bird of the Year is chosen annually by nature conservation organisations to draw attention to different birds and thus better protect them.