Interesting Facts About Robins

1. Male vs. Female: Both sexes have an orange-red chest, but the male's is a deeper red. The male has a dark, almost black top of the head, wings and tail, while the female is duller.
   
   
2. Incubation: The female sits on the eggs, which are "Robin's egg blue," for 11-13 days, while her mate stands guard.
   
   
3. Once the eggs hatch, both parents hunt for insects from dawn to dusk to feed their nestlings.
   
   
4. After about 2 weeks, the babies, now called fledglings, leave the nest. You can identify a young robin by the spots on its chest.
   
   
5. At first, fledglings are in danger of being attacked by other animals, because they do not have their full compliment of flight feathers, which take another few days to develop. During this time, their parents watch them and continue to feed them and bring water to them on the ground.
   
   
6. After two more weeks, the fledglings are fully feathered and go off on their own.
   
   
7. During the breeding season a pair of robins will raise two or three broods.
   
   
8. If you find a baby robin on the ground, do not interfere. Most likely its parents are nearby and will feed it when you leave. If it is young enough to have fallen out of its nest, you can pick it up and put it back in the nest.
   
   
9. Food: Robins eat earthworms, insects, and fruit. Although they appear to be listening, with their heads cocked sideways towards the ground, robins actually use their keen eyesight to find worms.
   
   
10. Life span: Robins can live up to 12 years in the wild.
    
    
11. Flight speed: 25 to 36 mph

Sources: The City Naturalist section of NYSite and Singapore Science Centre web site

Another web site with info on baby robins: Journey North: Robin Nest Photo Study