robin

There are two popular ‘robin’ species – the American robin and the European robin. These two varieties, however, are not related; they are named robin because of the orange-red patch on their breast!

[a]

American Robin:

an American Robin

a kind of bird – song bird – diurnal (= active during the day) – insectivore (= feeds mostly on insects) –  related to the thrush bird family – small with black or grey feathers on the round head and white with black streaks on the throat, average pointed black beak (bill), round clear eyes, brown back and reddish-orange breast, relatively long tail, medium-sized slender legs; size: 10-12 inches long, and weight: about 80 grams; feeds on (eats) mostly insects, caterpillars, spiders, worms, and fruit and berries; lives for (if a young bird survives the first year, it may live for 2-3 or 5-6 years; the longest lived bird on record was 13 years); about 7 sub-species found in North America

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[b]

European robin:

(also ‘English robin’, ‘robin’, ‘redbreast’, ‘robin redbreast’)

a European robin

a kind of bird – song bird – diurnal (= active during the day) – insectivore (= feeds mostly on insects) – related to the flycatcher bird family – small with bluish-grey on the head and sides of the head, clear round eyes, medium-sized sharp, pointed brown or black beak (bill), grey back and wings, white under parts, orange/red breast patch, moderate tail, medium-sized slender legs; size: 5-6 inch long, and weight: 15-24 grams; feeds on (eats) mostly insects, worms, spiders, and fruit and seeds; lives for (if a young bird survives the first year, it may live for 2-3 or 5-6 years; the longest lived bird on record was 14 years); several sub-species found in Europe, Eurasia, Iceland

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an oriental magpie robin

The other birds with the name ‘robin’ are: ‘Australian red robin’ which is closely related to the crow family, also known as ‘robin redbreast’, ‘scarlet robin’; ‘mountain robin’ of Central and South America; ‘Japanese robin’, ‘Peking robin’; ‘magpie-robin’ of Africa and Asia.  The ‘Oriental magpie robin’ (doayle or dhayal) is the national bird of Bangladesh, Asia.

a sea robin (fish)

The ‘sea robin’, however, is a kind of fish with bony head and long side fins with extended rays with which the fish feels for the food on the bottom of the seas.  The striking features of this fish are: it makes sounds with its air-bladder and ‘walks’ on the bottom of the water bed with the help of its feelers in search of food!