European Robin

• It is famous for how bold and trusting it is around people, often following gardeners about to pick off invertebrates.
• It eats invertebrates such as insects, worms and spiders, supplemented with seeds and berries in winter.
• One bird reached a record 19 years.
• sentidosIt can sense the Earth's magnetic field through a light-dependent mechanism in the eye, involving photoreceptor proteins called cryptochromes.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - pneumatised bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat & environment

Woodland, hedgerows, parks and gardens across much of Europe, western Asia and North Africa

Birth weight

Tiny, pink and featherless on hatching

Size at birth

Tiny at hatching

Sexual maturity

1 year

Gestation / incubation

12-16 days (usual reference 13-14 days)

Litter / clutch size

4 to 7 eggs per clutch, with up to 2-3 broods a year

Sources consulted: A-Z Animals; Britannica; AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); Birds of the World; Animalia.bio; Birdfact; Birds and Blooms; Binocular Base

Best time: All year round; in winter it spreads across the whole of Spain and is very easy to see in parks and gardens, where each bird defends its territory alone.