American robin
Turdus migratorius
Bird
Abundant, widespread thrush that splits its diet seasonally: earthworms, insects, and other invertebrates dominate in spring and summer, while soft fruits become the primary food in late summer, fall, and winter. Robins consume a wide range of native fruits including chokecherry, hawthorn, dogwood, serviceberry, and mulberry, and they disperse seeds across the landscape as they move in winter flocks. The species nests in an open cup, typically on a horizontal tree or shrub limb, so fruiting trees and shrubs serve as both food and nest structure in a garden.
Conservation
IUCN Red List: Least Concern. Among the most numerous and broadly distributed land birds in North America, with a stable-to-increasing continental population; no special conservation status.
Plants in the catalog
Fruit plants · 18
Robins and other fruit-eating birds strip the small persistent pomes in winter — and in doing so disperse the fertile seed far from the parent tree, which is the main way Callery pear invades new ground. This is real wildlife use, but it works against native habitat.
Robins and other fruit-eating songbirds eat the persistent red berries and disperse the seed — the documented mechanism by which Japanese barberry escapes into and invades natural areas. Bird use here drives the invasion rather than indicating habitat value.
Range
Breeds across nearly all of North America from Alaska and Canada south through the United States into Mexico; northern populations migrate south for winter while many populations are year-round residents.