table of contents
- Breeding season and nest
- Appearance of robin eggs
- Possible confusion
The robin is an easily recognizable songbird. The red colored throat is typical. The robins' eggs are less easy to spot. The main features are in this article.
In a nutshell
- the robin is a ground breeder
- prefers clutches in bushes, embankments or at low altitudes in caves
- rarely uses nesting aids
- Eggs can hardly be confused with other bird species
Breeding season and nest
It breeds from April to July European robin pair. Usually there are two broods. The female builds the nest, while the male marks the territory by singing. The female uses grass and moss as building material. Leaves and fine roots. As ground brooders, robins hardly ever build their nests in trees or bushes, but for example:
- abandoned nests of other songbirds
- Cans
- Pots
- Watering cans
- bucket
- shoes
Appearance of robin eggs
The clutch comprises between five and seven eggs. Most robins lay exactly six eggs. The robin egg is oval or short oval and has a matt sheen. The basic color is light, mostly whitish or beige, but always with a certain amount of red. On the shell there are red-brown or rust-red beads, which become more and more dense towards the blunt pole. Sometimes they even form a circle around the egg. The clutches of the different subspecies of the robin are similar, in particular the coloring is passed on from mother to daughter.
Possible confusion
The egg size is approximately 20 mm in length and 16 mm in diameter. Because of these dimensions and coloration, it is difficult to confuse robin eggs with other songbird eggs.
A garden close to nature is the best help. Hedges or shrubbery should be made of wood with thorns and be very dense to deter predators. In addition, the songbirds sometimes use nesting boxes with oval openings that do not hang too high.
Often they are predators such as martens, cats, rats, foxes, badgers and birds of prey such as owls, sparrowhawks and buzzards. Humans are also an enemy of the songbird due to the destruction of the habitat and the use of poisons in agriculture.
The clutch should be observed for a while to find out whether it is really deserted. Most of the time, the parents return at some point and continue brooding if they are undisturbed.
This would theoretically be possible with a suitable incubator, but it is seldom successful for laypeople without background knowledge.