The
European robin (
Erithacus rubecula) is a small
insectivorous passerine bird. Formerly classified as a member of the
thrush family, it is now considered to be an
Old World flycatcher. About 12.5–14.0 cm (5.0–5.5 inch) in length, males and females are similar in colouration, with an orange breast and face lined with grey, brown upperparts and a whitish belly; the orange breast emerges gradually after birth, as with the juvenile specimen shown here. The species is found across Europe, east to Western Siberia and south to North Africa; it is
sedentary in most of its range except the far north. The unrelated
American robin was named after it.
Photograph: Charles J. Sharp