The Robin bird song is bright, cheery, and has ten syllables with a unique whistling quality. It has a constant and steady rhythm, and its high pitch often pieces through the call of other songbirds.
Did you know that the Robin often gets up before dawn to start singing? Their beautiful whistling songs are found in meditation music to sleep sounds because it’s so cheery, delightful, and peaceful. Aside from singing, they also have a few other communication sounds, including alarm calls and unique contact calls.
Their energetic whistling mating call is one of the most recognizable songs heard in the dawn chorus, and it’s a clear indication that spring has sprung!
The American Robin call also includes a few other calls outside of their mating call, including alarm calls, contact calls, and different short chirps and yeeps.
How To Listen for A Robin
Listening to birds singing in your backyard get’s tricky when trying to draw out particular songs in the orchestra of mating calls. However, the Robin mating call is easy to pick out. If it’s the first bird you hear in the morning, it’s likely a Robin!
The Robin isn’t the only bird to participate in the dawn chorus. Warblers, Blackbirds, Bluebirds, and even Hummingbirds are all active early morning singers. However, the unique Robin bird call is the loudest, earliest, and easiest to identify!
Sounds That Robins Make
Robins communicate using mating calls, contact calls, and alarm calls. While they’re famous for their beautiful whistling song (often heard early in the morning), they also make various other calls.
Mating Call
The mating call is a series of 10 whistling syllables strung together in a unique pattern to attract a companion or defend their territory. It’s loudest during the dawn chorus and becomes quieter throughout the day. What’s interesting about the Robin mating call is that it’s unique to every individual Robin.
Not all American Robins compose their songs to sound identical, which makes it fun for bird watchers to identify an individual Robin based on their unique mating call. Robin’s are also one of the first birds to start their mating calls in the early spring.
If you heard a Robin singing outside your window in the morning – congratulations, you made it through the cold, harsh winter!
In the video below, we rounded up 10 little known facts about Robins!
Contact Call
The contact call is a way for these backyard birds to communicate with each other quietly. Robin contact calls are composed of short syllables easily confused with Sparrows, Thrush, Orioles, Bluebirds, Buntings, and other wild birds due to their simple nature. Let’s break down some simple contact calls, known as the “tut” and “whinny” calls.
The tut call is a short and nasally ‘tut’ sound that an American Robin makes. Sometimes, they make a series of short tuts when moving from a birdbath to a nearby branch. They also make this noise when they become startled or sense a predator nearby.
The whinny call sounds like a high-pitched series of beeps similar to a tropical bird. It’s of a higher pitch when compared to other calls. They make this whiny noise to help locate other Robins or to show dominance over their territory.
Flight Call
When in flight, Robins make a very quiet tsip or sqee call while in flight, or just before they are about to take off. It’s one of their faintest bird sounds and very difficult to pick up if you aren’t listening carefully.
The flight call is often heard from American Robins traveling together in a flock and rarely heard by individual Robins. It is a way for Robins to locate their congregation as they travel or indicate that one is about to take flight.
Alarm Call
Like many other birds of North America, the Robin (aka Turdus migratorius) has a few calls indicating trouble. Whether it’s a crow lurking nearby or a human gets too close, Robin’s excellent at vocalizing different levels of danger. They use two different sounds or calls to alert other birds, knwon as the “peak” and “dog whistle” calls.
A peak call is high-pitched and fired in rapid succession. Sometimes, it’s emitted in conjunction with a tut call when feeding or traveling with other birds. If you notice the peak call is fast and furious, there is likely a predator in a nearby tree, or the Robin is not a fan of your presence!
The dog whistle call is an alarmingly high-pitched call that can even cause hearing damage! You will be likely to hear this when all other birds stop chattering, because the dog whistle call is a way that Robins help other wild birds indicate the location of a crow, hawk, or other predator perched in a tree.
Why Does the Robin Sing Early in the Morning?
The dawn chorus is the perfect time of day for birds to sing without being spotted by predators. During the early morning hours (before the sun rises) are when songbirds, such as the Robin, feel most confident.
Singing is a great way to attract a mate but also draws unwanted attraction from predators. Starting their mating calls before the break of dawn allows birds to communicate with each other in the safety of darkness. Clever birds!
Do Female Robins Sing?
The female robin is vocal, but she doesn’t produce the same cheery song as male Robins. However, female robins make very similar contact calls and alarm calls as male American Robins. One thing that the female does that the male does not make is an aggressive clacking noise.
When a female Robin feels that her nest is in danger, she makes a clacking noise when she feels her nest is in danger from a Crow or a Blue Jay.
Do Robins Sing At Night?
Yes, in some instances, Robins have been spotted singing at night. It’s not common, but Robins that live in loud urban areas use the silence of the night to get their point across!
Unlike the Nightingale, Robins are not nocturnal birds, which makes their evening songs so unusual. Many researchers find that Robins that sing at night are often confused by the bright lights and noisy city life in places such as New York.
If you hear a Robin singing at night, try to turn off the lights and do your part not to contribute to added light pollution that affects the natural rhythms of your local songbirds!