Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.

Get Adobe Flash player
 

  • Nederlands
  • Deutsch
Search in the Encyclopedia

Dieren en planten

Thrush and flycatchers   Nightingale   Bluethroat   Whinchat   Stonechat   European robin   Warblers   

Water en land

Dune areas   Dunes (biotope)   Forests   Forest (biotope)   

Mens en Milieu

Nature policy   Flora and Fauna Act   Bird Directive   
  • Dut: Roodborst
  • Fr: Readboarstke
  • Eng: Robin
  • Ger: Rotkehlchen
  • Lat: Erithacus rubecula
print print
Robin, foto fitis, adriaan dijksen

European robin

Everyone knows the bird on the English Christmas card. European robins may look cute but they are not very tolerant. They can be very aggresive when defending their large territory. They will stick out their chests, shake their body back and forth and eventually assault their competitor with their beaks. They mark off their territory by singing. Their pearly song can be heard throughout the year: a kind of tinkling waterfall of whistled tones. It's not just the males that mark the territory while singing, the females sing just as loudly.

  • Distribution and habitat

    European robins nest in large numbers in variable, woody regions, gardens and parks. Although we see them throughout the year in the Netherlands,we are seeing different birds. Those that nest here fly south in the winter. They are replaced by other robins from Scandinavia. Sometimes, our own robins stay the entire winter in the country.