BirdNote; Cheery American Robin

- Transcript
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
If you have more information about this item than what is given here, or if you have concerns about this record, we want to know! Contact us, indicating the AAPB ID (cpb-aacip-ce72807f58b).
- 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
- 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