American Robin

Turdus migratorius

Zorzal Petirrojo

 

 

Audio 3 (M. Oberle)

 
Photo: G. Beaton

 

Dark gray above with reddish-orange undersides. Length: 25 cm.; weight: 82 g. Audio 3 (M. Oberle). Breeds throughout much of temperate North America; winters in most of the lower 48 U. S. states and into Mexico; rare in the western West Indies. Colonists named the American Robin after the European Robin (Erithacus rubecula). Although both species have a reddish breast, they belong to different genera and have different songs. This confusing pattern of naming birds for remotely-related Old World species was a widespread custom as colonists arrived in the New World colonies from Europe centuries ago. Reports in Puerto Rico have usually turned out to be Red-legged Thrushes sometimes with reddish pollen on the undersides. However, this species may still show up in Puerto Rico.

TAXONOMY: PASSERIFORMES; TURDIDAE

 
   

References

Arendt, W.J. 1992. Status of North American migrant landbirds in the Caribbean region: a summary. Pp. 143-171 in Ecology and conservation of neotropical migrant landbirds (J.M. Hagan III and D.W. Johnston, eds.) Smithsonian Instit. Press, Washington, D.C.

Bent, A.C. 1949. Life histories of North American thrushes, kinglets, and their allies. Smithsonian Instit. U.S. National Museum Bull. 196. (Reprinted by Dover Press, NY, 1964).

Bond, J. 1982. Twenty-fourth supplement to the check-list of the birds of the West Indies (1956). Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.

Clement, P. 2001. Thrushes. Princeton University Press.

Ehrlich, P.R., D.S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The birderÆs handbook: a field guide to the natural history of North American birds. Simon and Schuster/ Fireside, NY.

Ghalambor, C. K. and T. E. Martin. 2001. Fecundity-survival trade-offs and parental risk-taking in birds. Science 292:494-497.

Martin, T. E., P. R. Martin, C. R. Olson, B. J. Heidinger, and J. J. Fontaine. 2000. Parental care and clutch sizes in North and South American birds. Science 287:1482-1485.

Pérez-Rivera, R. y G. Bonilla. 1983. Nuevos informes y comentarios sobre las aves de Mona. Science-Ciencia 10.3:97-101.

Raffaele, H. A. 1981. New records of bird species for Puerto Rico and one for the West Indies. Am Birds 35:142-143.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR.

Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton.

Sallabanks, R. and F. C. James. 1999. American Robin (Turdus migratorius). No. 462 in The birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Slagsvold, T. 1997. Is there a sexual conflict over hatching asynchrony in American Robins? Auk 114:593-600.

American Robin, Spanish text

Next related species in taxonomic order

Previous related species in taxonomic order

Back to Species Selection Page Menu

Return to first page of the CD-ROM