Bird guide · October 2026
Meet Barnaby the robin: a guide to Britain's most popular bird
How to tell a young robin from an adult, the numbers worth knowing, why robins sing after dark, the nest, and four ways to help one in your garden.
The Vote National Bird campaign’s results page says the robin was voted most popular bird in Britain’s first national bird vote.
What to know about this
The only source is the campaign’s own announcement; the saved page shows no vote counts and no date.
Watch the Robin guide
Young or adult?
Young
A young robin has no red breast. It is brown with golden flecks.
becomes
A young robin moults in autumn and gets its orange-red breast.
FromBTO
What to know about this
BTO's moult guide states the autumn timing and the one-step change from a spotty-breasted juvenile to an orange-breasted adult; it does not give a month.
In numbers
A robin is about 14 centimetres long.
What to know about this
One source, no basis (average, sample or method) stated on the page.
An adult robin weighs about 19 grams on average.
FromBTO
What to know about this
BTO’s mean for live adult birds in the ringing sample (19 ± 2.2 g, N = 22,245, 15.5 to 22.8 g between the 5th and 95th percentiles); The Wildlife Trusts give 18 g with no basis.
A robin that reaches breeding age typically lives about two years.
About four in ten young robins survive their first year.
FromBTO
The oldest ringed robin on BTO’s record lived at least eight years.
FromBTO
What to know about this
A minimum age from a ringed bird; the two BTO pages give different exact figures, both over eight years.
Across Britain
There were about 7.4 million robin territories in the UK in 2016.
FromBTO
What to know about this
Territories, not birds; a 2016 estimate.
The UK breeding robin population rose 57% from 1967 to 2024.
FromBTO
In the UK, robins are Green-listed on the 2021 Birds of Conservation Concern list, the category of least concern.
Legend has it that Victorian postmen were nicknamed “robins” for their red jackets.
FromPostal MuseumThe Wildlife TrustsWoodland Trust
What to know about this
The Postal Museum says 'legend has it'; the Wildlife Trusts say 'thought to be'; the Woodland Trust states it as fact.
Barnaby, at night
After dark
Robins sing nearly all year round.
Robins sing at night, and street lights make their after-dark singing more regular.
FromRSPB
In studies, robins near artificial night lights start their dawn song earlier.
FromDa Silva et al. 2014Godet et al. 2026
What to know about this
A 2014 study in Southern Germany (about 20 minutes earlier on average for the robin, in 11 non-urban plots) and a 2026 study at street-lit sites in France, both read as abstracts. Two 2015 papers measure when the singing season starts, not the time of morning, so they are not used for this sentence.
They go quieter in July and August, while they moult.
FromRSPB
Robins like to sing from a perch, even the handle of a garden spade.
FromRSPB
Whose patch is this?
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Studies suggest the red breast works as a threat signal between robins.
FromLack 1939Jovani et al. 2012Woodland Trust
What to know about this
Lack (1939) and Jovani and others (2012) are read as abstracts only.
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Robins have even been seen attacking stuffed robins.
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Both males and females hold winter territories.
FromThe Wildlife TrustsCornell LabProudfoot et al. 2025Oosterveld et al. 2024
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Male robins defend their patch, sometimes until death.
FromRSPB
The nest, in numbers
Eggs
A typical robin clutch is 4 to 5 eggs.
FromBTO
What to know about this
BTO's typical figure; the Woodland Trust gives 4 to 6 and Cornell Lab 4 to 7.
Hatching
The eggs hatch after about two weeks.
What to know about this
BTO's typical range is 14 to 16 days; the Woodland Trust says 13.
Leaving the nest
The chicks leave the nest about two weeks after hatching.
Building and choosing
The female builds the nest from moss, hair, grass and dead leaves.
FromWoodland Trust
Robins have nested in kettles, boots and post boxes.
Robins usually nest less than 2 metres off the ground, but can nest much higher.
FromBTO
Laying and broods
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A pair typically lays two broods in a season, not counting replacements, and occasionally, for example in particularly good years, may attempt three.
FromBTO
What to know about this
The sources differ on the numbers: BTO shows three as exceptional, the RSPB says two or three clutches with no qualifier, and Cornell Lab gives one to two broods. The sentence is BTO’s.
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BTO gives an average first-clutch laying date for robins of around 18 April, with a range of 19 March to 10 June.
FromBTO
What to know about this
The BirdFacts line states no year or area. BTO’s method page calls such a figure an indication of the median, says the range leaves out extremes, and says the date is for England only where possible.
How to help
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Fresh water
Change bird bath water every day.
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Keep it clean
Regular cleaning avoids a build-up of food waste and bird droppings.
FromBTO
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Mealworms
Mealworms are popular with robins.
Clear away any mealworms left uneaten by dusk the same day.
FromRSPB
What to know about this
The RSPB gives other foods other times (seed and peanuts 1 to 2 days, suet up to 7 days); this rule is for mealworms only.
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A nest box
Robins favour open-fronted nest boxes.
Place a robin’s nest box within the cover of a climber or overhanging vegetation.
FromBTO
More birbs at the window
Three more from the handbook.
Go deeper
- The robin’s pageEvery claim about the robin, with its grade and its source.
- All the birbsThe whole handbook, and a finder.
- A poorly bird in the garden?What to look for and what to do.
- How GardenBirbs works
How we checked
Each sentence above was read against the page it names. GardenBirbs is not connected to any of these places.
The pages
- Vote National Bird: results
- RSPB: Robin
- Woodland Trust: Robin
- The Wildlife Trusts: Robin
- Cornell Lab: European Robin, identification
- BTO: Moult in birds
- BTO BirdFacts: Robin
- Da Silva and others (2014), Behavioral Ecology
- Godet and others (2026), Environmental Pollution
- Lack (1939), Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London
- Jovani and others (2012), Ibis
- Cornell Lab: European Robin, life history
- Proudfoot and others (2025), Behavioral Ecology
- Oosterveld and others (2024), Journal of Ornithology
- Woodland Trust: What do robins eat?
- Woodland Trust: Where and when do robins nest?
- BTO: Nest Boxes, your essential guide
- BTO: Seasonal advice for feeding garden birds
- RSPB: Top tips to help reduce disease in garden birds
- Garden Wildlife Health: Feeding garden birds, best practice
- RSPB: Feed seasonally, feed safely
- BTO: Good hygiene practice
- British Postal Museum and Archive: A history of Christmas cards
GardenBirbs is coming soon to iPhone and Android™ phones.
Read more
- November 2026 · Through the seasonsA robin’s year: twelve months with BarnabyFollow a robin through the UK garden year: spring nesting, the summer moult and a young bird’s first orange-red breast.
- October 2026 · Garden bird healthA poorly bird in the garden?How to spot the common signs of illness, what to do today, and who to tell, in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.