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BirdNote®
Cheery American Robin
Written by Frances Wood
This is BirdNote.
This might be the first bird you noticed as a child.
[American Robin singing]
Perhaps you heard the cheery song of an American Robin coming from the top of a nearby tree. Or maybe you saw a robin running and pausing on the lawn, cocking its head before extracting a fat, juicy worm from the ground. Does the robin hear the worm, or see the worm? That cocked head may suggest the bird is listening, but in fact, it sees evidence of a worm lurking below. The robin is able to zero in on minute movements.
The male robin is often the first bird to wake up and start singing on a spring morning, sometimes well before dawn. The songster belts out his song to guard his turf from other male robins, and to advertise himself, and attract a female for the breeding season. At peak singing, the male robin might repeat his song about 2,000 times each day.
[Repeat American Robin song]
You can listen again to this episode of BirdNote – or any other – even subscribe to the podcast. Begin at our website, BirdNote.org. I’m Mary McCann.
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Dawn song of the American Robin provided by: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York.
Sound recordist: W.L. Hershberger
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson / Dominic Black
© 2015 Tune In to Nature.org March 2018 Narrator: Mary McCann
ID# 031005AMROKPLU AMRO-01b
Series
BirdNote
Episode
Cheery American Robin
Producing Organization
BirdNote
Contributing Organization
BirdNote (Seattle, Washington)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip-ce72807f58b
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Description
Episode Description
What was the first bird you noticed as a child? Perhaps you heard the cheery song of the American Robin coming from the top of a nearby tree. Or maybe you saw a robin running and pausing on the lawn, cocking its head before extracting a fat, juicy worm from the ground. The robin is often the first bird to wake up and start singing on a spring morning.
Created Date
2018-03-22
Asset type
Episode
Topics
Science
Subjects
Birds
Rights
Sounds for BirdNote stories were provided by the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Xeno-Canto, Martyn Stewart, Chris Peterson, John Kessler, and others. Where music was used, fair use was taken into consideration. Individual credits are found at the bottom of each transcript.
Media type
Sound
Duration
00:01:45.195
Embed Code
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Credits
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Producing Organization: BirdNote
Writer: Wood, Frances
AAPB Contributor Holdings
BirdNote
Identifier: cpb-aacip-c5726ba1762 (Filename)
Format: Hard Drive
Generation: Master
Duration: 00:01:45
If you have a copy of this asset and would like us to add it to our catalog, please contact us.
Citations
Chicago: “BirdNote; Cheery American Robin,” 2018-03-22, BirdNote, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed July 25, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-ce72807f58b.
MLA: “BirdNote; Cheery American Robin.” 2018-03-22. BirdNote, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. July 25, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-ce72807f58b>.
APA: BirdNote; Cheery American Robin. Boston, MA: BirdNote, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-ce72807f58b