Follow the Pathway Robin Cam
A cheery sign of spring’s arrival, the American Robin is one of our most familiar and beloved birds. Robins have adapted well to living among people, as they run across lawns, stopping to watch and listen for one of their favourite foods – earthworms!
Male robins sing beautiful songs to declare their territory. Watch for them in the tops of trees, singing a musical ‘Cheerio, cheerio, cheerio!’
Did you know that male and female robins are coloured differently? Males are more darkly coloured, with bright orange breasts, and heads and backs that are almost black. Females are much paler orange, with lighter brown heads and backs. Next time you see a robin, see if you can tell whether it’s a mom or a dad.
Robins are found throughout North America, ranging in summer across every province and territory of Canada. During the winter, most Ontario robins migrate into the northern U.S., but if food is still available, some may stay to brave our cold Canadian winters.
Want to hear Robin’s call? Visit The Cornell Labs
The male robin is brighter in colour than the female with a bright beak colour, black head, and white throat markings. (Wikimedia Commons)
The female’s feathers are washed out and faded so they’re camouflaged from predators as she incubates her eggs.
American Robin Nesting Habits
As you watch the Robin’s nest on our webcam, here is some interesting information from the Canadian Wildlife Federation:
“The female chooses the nest site and builds the nest. She takes from two to six days to build the nest, making an average of 180 trips a day, with mud or grass, during the peak building period.
In southern Canada, the first clutch, or set of eggs, is laid in late April or early May. This is commonly followed by a second clutch and, at times, when conditions are favourable, a third. Nests may still contain eggs in early August. A clutch of three or four eggs is common.
The eggs are the familiar robin’s-egg blue, though white ones, rarely brown spotted, do occur. The female continues incubating the eggs for an average of 12 days.
The nestling period lasts from 13 to 16 days. The next clutch is usually started about 40 days after the first egg of the year.
The young weigh about 5.5 g when they hatch. Fed by both parents, they each receive an average of 35 to 40 meals a day.
When they are about 13 days old, the young leave the nest, traveling up to 45 m on the first day. The young become independent of the parents at four weeks.
American robins fall prey to many predators. Eggs and young are common prey for squirrels, snakes, and birds, such as crows, ravens, and blue jays. In addition, adults are lost to cats, owls, and hawks. With so many predators, it’s not surprising that American robins only live an average of two years.”
For more information visit, Canadian Wildlife Federation
Make your own bird's nest with this creative craft
This hands-on bird nest project will help kids develop their creative and analytical thinking and engage with Nature. Don’t forget to learn about the plants and animals you might see while collecting loose parts for this crafty creation.
- Start with a paper plate
- Go outside and collect sticks, leaves, moss, grass, mud, and other items for your nest
- Use sticks to create the outside of the nest, winding them together
- Then add moss and smaller stick and leaves on the inside
- Paint some eggs to go inside or create some from fabrics like wool
For a more advanced nesting experience, try this balloon-inspired DIY Birds Nest
Read 'Bird Builds a Nest'
In this read-aloud of ‘Bird Builds a Nest’, written by Martin Jenkins and illustrated by Richard Jones, follow Bird as she spends the day building her nest.
This page supports the following Landmarks
Did you explore outdoors, create a bird’s nest, or read-a-long with “Bird Builds a Nest’? If so, it’s likely you completed one of the following Landmark activities:
Landmark 1 – Explore Outdoors Together
Landmark 7 – Share a nature-based book
Landmark 8 – Create at least one nature-based art project
Landmark 12 – Meet the friends in your neighbourhood (trees, flowers, mammals, insects, birds)