Two birds with the same common name. They are both called Robin. The top photo is the American Robin that Lisa mentioned in a comment..The lower photo is one of my garden birds, the Common European Robin. They both have red breasts though.
The American Robin is a Song Thrush and state bird of Conneticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Robin
Apparently three of the birds have even found their way across the Atlantic Ocean to the UK! They must have been blown over by the trade winds.
The American Robin also made it into the musical Mary Poppins, as a film error building a nest outside their window.
The European Robin is my friend the garden bird who sits on my fence post every day looking into the garden and guarding his territory.
In the UK robins take a starring role every year on traditional Christmas cards. The Rspb loves robins in snowy garden photos. They have been part of the culture since the middle ages, as Robin Redbreast..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Robin
I thought they might have been related, but they are totally different species. A tale of two Robins.
4 comments:
Your garden visitor sure is a cutie!
Thanks Julie,I have seen the English Robin in my Garden every day since they first visited.Usually sat on a fenc post singing, or cocking his head to look at me and my camera.He eats first, then all the other shy birds follow him!
GRR! This was on my list of things to blog about and you've beaten me to it ! Great minds ...
I love seeing the pics of birds on US blogs and seeing how different they are to our British and European ones. And finally seeing what birds like bluebirds and chickadees actually look like.
Hi Sue,Do that post about the difference between American Birds and English ones.I will be intirigued to see what you can find out.
My Fav American birds are Bluejays (like the baseball team), and Cardinals.The Robin was mentioned in two comments that it looked nothing like my photo of the European Robin.
Thanks for the comment.I will look forward to your post.I can link mine to yours!
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