Turdus migratorious
Order Passeriformes
Family Turdidae
♂ Male.— Head black, a white spot above the eye; back grayish; wings brown; breast bay; tail black, outer feathers tipped with white.
♀ Female.— Head the same color as back; breast paler than in male.
Immature.— Breast spotted with black.
Nest, of grass and mud.
Eggs, blue.
Small flocks of Robins sometimes spend the winter even in northern New England, feeding on the berries of the mountain ash. In southern New England and the lower Hudson Valley, especially near the sea-coast, Robins often winter in large flocks; they rarely come into the villages, but live in thick groves or swamps of cedar, on the berries of which they feed. The flocks in winter seem to be made up entirely of males. In late January or early February, large flocks of Robins generally appear in the cedar groves, even when there have been none observed previously. In early March the resident Robins return, the males first, in flocks which feed chiefly on the hillsides; by April the females appear and the pairs are scattered about the villages, the males joining in the early morning and evening chorus. The nest is now built on the limb of a tree, or in some crotch, or on a projection of a shed or piazza; the same site is often used year after year. By the end of May the first brood have left the nest. The young may be known by their spotted breasts and by the harsh squawk which they utter. Soon a second nest is built and the male again sings regularly. In mid-summer the male Robins and the young of the first brood repair each night to some low wooded swamp; thousands occupy one roost, coming in from miles about. In the fall Robins linger into November, singing occasionally on warm mornings.
The song is a series of phrases rising and falling, four often constituting a series, which is then repeated or varied. The birds sing even before it is light, and after continuing for about an hour, cease and disperse to feed. Then there is desultory singing from individuals through the morning. Besides the single pip or pop of the Robin and the excited pip, pip, pip, it has a high, thin hissing note, very like the Cedar-bird’s, but a trifle sharper. A common call-note is a shrill tsee, tsee, often followed by a low tut, tut.
When a Robin flies over an observer, the white feathers under the tail offer a striking contrast to the dark breast. Just after a Robin lights it almost always pumps its tail vigorously once or twice. When a Robin flies up from the ground, the white spots on the tips of the outer tailfeathers are conspicuous.
Hoffmann – A Guide to the Birds of New England and Eastern New York (1904)