Bird Guide › American Robin

How to Identify aAmerican Robin

Turdus migratorius · 7.9–11.0 in (20–28 cm)

Male vs. female

Male

Dark gray-black head, gray back, and a rich orange-red breast; white splits around the eye.

Female

Paler overall with a grayer head and a slightly washed-out orange breast.

Male photo: Rhododendrites / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Female photo: Andy Morffew from Itchen Abbas, Hampshire, UK / Wikimedia, CC BY 2.0

Quick ID

A large, round-bellied thrush with a warm brick-orange breast and dark gray back, often hopping across lawns.

Field marks

Brick-orange to rusty breast and belly
Yellow bill, often dark-tipped
White broken eye-ring
Streaked white throat

Similar species

Spotted Towhee — Has rufous sides but a black hood, red eye, and white belly.

Varied Thrush — Western bird with an orange eyebrow and a dark breast band.

What it sounds like

A rich caroling song of rising and falling phrases, often written "cheerily, cheer up, cheer-i-o".

Behaviour that gives it away

Runs a few paces across a lawn, stops, and cocks its head — it is watching and listening for worms, not just looking.

Habitat & range

Lawns, gardens, fields, and woodlands across nearly all of North America.

When you'll see it

Depending on where in North America you are, it is present all year and a summer visitor that arrives to breed.

What it eats

Earthworms and insects in warm months, switching to berries and fruit in fall and winter.

Did you know?

The classic "worm-tugging" pose isn't about hearing worms — robins mostly locate them by sight, cocking the head to look.

See more. Appreciate more.

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