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American robin in the UK? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter 0beron
- Start date
digi-birder
Well-known member
Well, it's contradictory, then. Which is correct? Is it "much larger than any other Robin" or is it the "size of a Chaffinch"? A Chaffinch is not much larger than a Robin, in anyone's language.
digi-birder
Well-known member
jeff said:
Well, I suppose with a bit of imagination, not to mention a tincture or two.....
Mike Cross
Well-known member
digi-birder said:Well, I suppose with a bit of imagination, not to mention a tincture or two.....
This is a bit like the Elvis effect. A rare bird hits the national press and all of a sudden everyones had them in the garden. We had a local example a few years ago when a farmer reported a Great Bustard it hit the local rag and all of a sudden there were reports of flocks of them everywhere. American Robin looks nothing like a proper (European) Robin. If you asked a 100 non-birders/people with a passing interest I'm sure that 90% of answers (excluding "well it's a bird innit") would say funny looking Blackbird/Thrush none would say funny looking Robin.
It's called a Robin because homesick emigrants longing for blighty seized on the presence of a red breast. American Robin bears as much resemblance to Robin as American Comedy does to Comedy.
But for goodness sake don't divulge the location in Bedfordshire or there'll be discarded tuna cans with jagged edges all over the place!
digi-birder
Well-known member
I was only going on the initial description of the size of it. Having then read the first post again and seen the other size description, it's obvious that it's never going to be identified on that basis.
Even the example Robin photo posted by 0beron is misleading, as there is no way of showing the size of the bird, unless you know the size of American Robin, so I suppose it could be mistaken for a Brambling, to the uninitiated.
None of us will ever know.
Even the example Robin photo posted by 0beron is misleading, as there is no way of showing the size of the bird, unless you know the size of American Robin, so I suppose it could be mistaken for a Brambling, to the uninitiated.
None of us will ever know.
Mike Cross
Well-known member
digi-birder said:
Seriously , I would be surprised if anyone who hadn't seen an American Robin or knew what one looked like would link it with Robin. Apologies to our American friends , the comment about comedy was a personal viewpoint. I appreciate some Brits enjoy your shows.
Serious about not divulging the address though. No one who respects their privacy, property, and relations with their neighbours would want a twitch on their premises (and I include myself as one of the undesirables who might turn up!). There are so many stories too of broken fences and bad parking and set-tos with residents as well as actions that harm the birds like chucking a stone into a bush, tin cans (an example I read only recently and freshest in my mind although obviously the AR won't take tuna!), flushing exhausted birds etc.
digi-birder
Well-known member
Mike Cross said:
I don't know how you can assume that, Mike. If you're new to birding and you see a photo in a paper or on the web of American Robin without ever having seen one in the flesh, all you may notice is the red breast and, not knowing the precise size of the bird (and so be unable to say it's a strange thrush), it could quite easily be mistaken for something the size of a Robin or a Brambling that you have seen briefly in your garden. If you get my drift!!
jeff
Well-known member
Let's put it another way, i'm a novice birder (that's me by the way), i see a bird in my garden i'd not seen before, it had an orange breast, black head with white eyering, not too sure what it is, then read about the American Robin in the press with nice photo (black head, white eyering, orange breast), it's a picture so i dont know the size of the bird, but the colour match my bird.
Bingo - American Robin in my garden what a turn up for the books Only trouble is it's the size of a chaffinch :-(
It took me ages to find a jack snipe once, I looked at the pictures, they looked pretty similar, would i ever spot it, when i eventually did see it, it was a tiny clockwork bird that was nothing like the common snipe, but i'd only seen a picture and the pictures were the same size and looked similar
Bingo - American Robin in my garden what a turn up for the books
Only trouble is it's the size of a chaffinch :-(It took me ages to find a jack snipe once, I looked at the pictures, they looked pretty similar, would i ever spot it, when i eventually did see it, it was a tiny clockwork bird that was nothing like the common snipe, but i'd only seen a picture and the pictures were the same size and looked similar
digi-birder
Well-known member
Well put, Jeff. So are we on the same side, or opposing? I'm confused now!!
Mike Cross
Well-known member
digi-birder said:
On paper I agree you can't tell the size. But I would be extremely surprised if someone seeing it in the flesh would desribe it as a funny Robin given the size difference, bill shape, head shape, the extent of the red "breast", jizz etc.
digi-birder
Well-known member
Well, I'm easily swayed under pressure!!
digi-birder
Well-known member
Mike Cross said:
That's why the concensus is now that it's a Brambling!!
jeff
Well-known member
Mike Cross said:
Mike,
But does a novice birder like myself take in all these points?
I'd say not, colour and size are as good as it get's in the early stages. I've now been swayed by what i've read in the paper, the robin matches my colours, the picture had no size, jizz etc, so could still be my bird, I now think my bird is a robin, so i'll call it a strange robin, cause it's not like the little critter i've seen before nicking worms as i've been turning the soil over and before long my little brambling has become a mega american robin.
What a garden tick, i'll tell a few friends ;-)
