American Robin

Turdus migratorius · Thrushes

Juvenile American Robin

Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 17 June 2026

A fledgling robin not long out of the nest, in the Botanic Garden in mid-June. Robins nest everywhere in the city, two or three broods a summer, and June is full of young ones like this on lawns and paths, still being fed by a parent.

The heavy spotting across a still-pale breast, with rust only starting to show at the flanks, marks the age; the smooth orange breast and adult colour come in over the following weeks. The spotted juvenile plumage is the ancestral thrush pattern. American Robins are unusual among North American thrushes in losing it as adults, while a Wood Thrush keeps its spots for life.

American Robin

Green-Wood Cemetery, 16 February 2026

A robin working the bare, thawed ground at the edge of the snow rather than the snow itself. Robins are all over North America, from Alaska to Mexico, and plenty stay in New York through the winter, switching from earthworms to fruit and berries once the ground freezes.

The idea that robins are a first sign of spring is mostly folklore in the Northeast. They were here all along, in flocks in the treetops, and simply become visible again once bare soil like this reappears and the worms come up.

American Robin

Prospect Park, 15 November 2025

An American Robin in Prospect Park in November, one of the many that stay in the city through the winter. Robins are across the whole continent, from Alaska to Mexico, and the winter ones shift from hunting worms on lawns to working fruit and berries in flocks, which makes them far less conspicuous in the cold months.

Despite the reputation as the classic sign of spring, plenty stay put across much of the country. The colonists named it for the robin at home, on the strength of the red breast alone; it is a thrush, twice the size, and no relation.