Editing European robin (section)

== Behaviour and ecology ==
[[File:European Robin (Erithacus rubecula) with mealworm.jpeg|thumb|Robin with prey]]
[[File:European Robin Erithacus rubecula.ogv|thumb|right|European robin feeding on snowy ground]]
[[File:04-European Robin-nX-1.webm|right|thumb|European robin feeding.]]

The robin is [[Diurnality|diurnal]], although it has been reported to be active hunting insects on moonlit nights or near artificial light at night.<ref name=Patzold95 /> Well known to British and Irish gardeners, it is relatively unafraid of people and drawn to human activities involving the digging of soil, in order to look out for [[earthworm]]s and other food freshly turned up. The British and Irish considered robins to be a gardener's friend and would never harm them, due also to the traditional association of the red colouring of their breasts with the [[blood of Christ]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Robin-Fact and Folklore|url=https://www.bbcwildlife.org.uk/news/robin-fact-and-folklore-eva-phillips-comms-officer#:~:text=Originally%2C%20robin%20redbreast%20was%20simply,of%20Robin%20Redbreast%20and%20Jenny|access-date=15 September 2022|website=Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust}}</ref> In continental Europe, on the other hand, robins were hunted and killed as were most other small birds, and are therefore more wary.<ref name=RSPB /> Robins also approach large wild animals, such as wild boar, which disturb the ground, to look for any food that might be brought to the surface.

In autumn and winter, robins will supplement their usual diet of terrestrial invertebrates, such as spiders, worms and insects, with berries, fruit and seeds.<ref name=Jon78 /><ref name="Collar, N">{{cite web |last=Collar |first=N. |editor-last1=J. del Hoyo |editor-last2=A. Elliott |editor-last3=J. Sargatal |editor-last4=D. A. Christie |editor-last5=E. de Juana |name-list-style=and |url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/eurrob1/1.0/introduction |title=European Robin (Erithacus rubecula) |website=[[Birds of the World]] |url-access=subscription |date=2020-03-04 |doi=10.2173/bow.eurrob1.01}}</ref> They will also eat seed mixtures and suet placed on bird-tables, as well as left-overs.<ref name=RSPB /><ref>{{cite web |last=Hoskins |first=Rachel |title=What do Robins Eat? And What to Feed them |url=https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/12/what-do-robins-eat/ |access-date=2025-03-22 |website=[[Woodland Trust]]}}</ref><ref name="Collar, N" /> The robin is even known to feed on small vertebrates (including fish and lizards) and carrion.<ref name="Collar, N" />

Male robins are very territorial and will fiercely attack other males and competitors that stray into their territories. They have been observed attacking other small birds without apparent provocation. There are recorded instances of robins attacking their own reflection.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=RHS|date=December 2018|title=December wildlife: Robins have a new family|journal=The Garden RHS|volume=143|issue=12|pages=29}}</ref> Territorial disputes sometimes lead to fatalities, accounting for up to 10% of adult robin deaths in some areas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/r/robin/territory.asp|title=The RSPB-Robin:Territory|access-date=1 July 2019|work=RSPB website|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211111532/http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/r/robin/territory.asp |archive-date=11 December 2008}}</ref>

Because of high mortality in the first year of life, a robin has an average life expectancy of 1.1&nbsp;years; however, once past its first year, life expectancy increases. One robin has been recorded as reaching 19&nbsp;years of age.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.euring.org/data_and_codes/longevity-voous.htm|title=Euring: European Longevity Records|access-date=1 June 2015|publisher=euring.org}}</ref> A spell of very low temperatures in winter can, however, result in higher mortality rates.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/r/robin/threats.asp|title=The RSPB-Robin:Threats|access-date=17 May 2008|work=RSPB website}}</ref> The species is parasitised by the [[moorhen flea]] (''Dasypsyllus gallinulae'')<ref name=Rothschild>{{cite book|title=Fleas, Flukes and Cuckoos. A study of bird parasites|author=Rothschild, Miriam|author-link=Miriam Rothschild|author2=Clay, Theresa|year=1957|publisher=Macmillan|location=New York|page=113|url=https://archive.org/details/fleasflukescucko00roth}}</ref> and the [[acanthocephala]]n ''[[Apororhynchus silesiacus]]''.<ref name="Dimitrova">{{cite journal |last1=Dimitrova |first1=Z. M. |last2=Murai |first2=Éva |last3=Georgiev |first3=Boyko B. |s2cid=82191853 |date=1995 |title=The first record in Hungary of ''Apororhynchus silesiacus'' Okulewicz and Maruszewski, 1980 (Acanthocephala), with new data on its morphology |journal=Parasitologia Hungarica |volume=28 |pages=83–88}}</ref>

=== Breeding ===
Robins may choose a wide variety of sites for building a nest. In fact, anything which can offer some shelter, like a depression or hole, may be considered. As well as the usual crevices, or sheltered banks, other objects include pieces of machinery, barbecues, bicycle handlebars, bristles on upturned brooms, discarded kettles, watering cans, flower pots and hats. Robins will also nest in manmade [[nest box]]es, favouring a design with an open front placed in a sheltered position up to {{convert|2|m}} from the ground.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bto.org/sites/default/files/bto-nest-boxes-essential-guide.pdf|title=NEST BOXES : YOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE|pages=12–13|website=Bto.org|access-date=19 March 2022}}</ref> Nests are generally composed of moss, leaves and grass, with fine grass, hair and feathers for lining.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |last=Jones |first=Hannah |url=https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/robin-erithacus-rubecula.html |title=Robin (Erithacus rubecula) |website=[[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]] |orig-date=Original date 20 December 2019 |date=2024-03-21}}</ref>

Two or three clutches of five or six eggs are laid throughout the breeding season, which commences in March in Britain and Ireland. The eggs are a cream, buff or white speckled or blotched with reddish-brown colour, often more heavily so at the larger end.<ref name=Observerbirdseggs>{{Cite book|title=The Observer's Book of Birds' Eggs|author=Evans, G.|pages=85|year=1972|publisher=Warne|location=London, UK|isbn=978-0-7232-0060-4}}</ref> When juvenile birds fly from the nests, their colouration is entirely mottled brown. After two to three months out of the nest, the juvenile bird grows some orange feathers under its chin, and over a similar period this patch gradually extends to complete the adult appearance of an entirely red-orange breast.<ref name="auto"/>

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| caption3  = [[Bird nest]] of a ground-breeding robin
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=== Vocalisation ===
{{listen|filename=Erithacus rubecula.ogg|title=European robin|description=European robin song}}

The robin produces a fluting, warbling {{audio|120401-132827 Erithacus rubecula.ogg|song}} during the breeding season. Both the male and female sing throughout the year, including during the winter, when they hold separate territories. During the winter, the robin's song is more plaintive than the summer version.<ref name=RSPB /> The female robin moves a short distance from the summer nesting territory to a nearby area that is more suitable for winter feeding. The male robin keeps the same territory throughout the year. During the breeding season, male robins usually initiate their morning song an hour before civil sunrise, and usually terminate their daily singing around thirty minutes after sunset.<ref name="Behavioral Ecology">{{Cite journal|author=Da Silva|author2=Samplonius|author3=Schlicht, Valcu|author4= Gaston|year=2014|title=Artificial night lighting rather than traffic noise affects the daily timing of dawn and dusk singing in common European songbirds|journal=Behavioral Ecology|volume=25|pages=1037–1047|doi=10.1093/beheco/aru103|issue=5|doi-access=free}}</ref> Nocturnal singing can also occur, especially in urban areas that are artificially lit during the night.<ref name="Behavioral Ecology" /> Some urban robins opt to sing at night to avoid daytime anthropogenic noise.<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Fuller RA, Warren PH, Gaston KJ |year=2007|title=Daytime noise predicts nocturnal singing in urban robins|journal=Biology Letters|volume=3|pages=368–70|doi=10.1098/rsbl.2007.0134|pmid=17456449|issue=4|pmc=2390663}}</ref>

=== Magnetoreception ===
[[File:Effect of RF interference on Magnetoreception in Birds.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|Very weak [[Electromagnetic interference|radio-frequency interference]] prevents migratory robins from orienting correctly to the [[Earth's magnetic field]]. Since this would not interfere with an iron compass, the experiments imply that the birds use a radical-pair mechanism.<ref name="Hore Mouritsen 2022"/>]]

The avian magnetic compass of the robin has been extensively researched and uses vision-based [[magnetoreception]], in which the robin's ability to sense the magnetic field of the Earth for navigation is affected by the light entering the bird's eye. The physical mechanism of the robin's magnetic sense involves [[quantum entanglement]] of electron spins in [[cryptochrome]] in the bird's eyes.<ref name=Hore2016>{{Cite journal |last1=Hore |first1=Peter J. |author1-link=Peter Hore (chemist) |last2=Mouritsen |first2=Henrik |date=5 July 2016 |title=The Radical-Pair Mechanism of Magnetoreception |journal=Annual Review of Biophysics |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=299–344 |doi=10.1146/annurev-biophys-032116-094545 |pmid=27216936 |s2cid=7099782 |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:c1e3c8ca-98b3-4e9d-8efd-0b9ad9b965eb |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Hore Mouritsen 2022">
{{cite journal
 | last1 = Hore | first1 = Peter J
 | last2 = Mouritsen | first2 = Henrik
 | author1-link = Peter Hore (chemist)
 | title = The quantum nature of bird migration
 | date = April 2022
 | journal = [[Scientific American]]
 | volume = 326
 | issue = 4
 | pages = 26–31
 | doi = 10.1038/scientificamerican0422-26
 | issn = 0036-8733
 | url = https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-migrating-birds-use-quantum-effects-to-navigate/
 | access-date = 29 January 2023
}} Web version published under title "How migrating birds use quantum effects to navigate".
</ref>