A few days ago Simone Dellaimayor of Schiavon (VI), found a dead robin that had accidentally crashed into the glass of a window of his house. The episode itself is quite common considering that, unfortunately, fatal impacts of birds against glass and reflective surfaces are frequent, but it made the news because the Mayor, noticing a metal ring on the little bird’s leg, managed to trace its provenance. The recognition ring had, in fact, been applied to the robin’s leg by a group of ornithologists from the Natural History Museum of Helsinkiin Finland, and from there the bird had left for the long winter migration journey which led him to Italy following a journey of over 2,000 kilometres.
The robin migrates at night to move from Northern Europe to the Mediterranean basin, it nests in the woods and despite its small build it is a courageous defender of its home. Even if it was unlucky in this case, the robin is one of the many migrants who every year face a journey full of threats and unexpected events, some of anthropic origin, but despite the traps, poachers’ nets and hunters’ rifles, it is not currently an endangered species.
The robin migrates from Northern Europe to the Mediterranean
Distributed throughout Europe and in a large part of the Mediterranean basin, the robin (Erithacus rubecula) is a predominantly species short-range migrant (i.e. they move to Europe and within the Mediterranean basin). The migratory strategy of this bird is complex as the robin populations that nest in Northern Europe in summer, in countries such as Scandinavia and Finland, perform a obligatory autumn migration And they travel thousands of kilometers in order to reach the southernmost districts of the Mediterranean before winter. The populations of Central Europe perform relatively short migrations, while those that breed in areas with mild climates such as Spain and Greece are all sedentary birds. However, it is a species capable of adopting strategies to minimize migration time.
In our latitudes and in the plain areas the presence of the robin is associated with the cold season. It arrives in Italy as a migrant, a winterer, but it is also nestingthen stops to reproduce. Our peninsula also functions as a crossroads for specimens coming from very distant geographical areas. The robins they travel at night and they stop in different locations for a time varying from a few hours to several days. During the stopover, especially young people, accumulate fat and rapidly gain weight so they can face the next stages of the journey.
In general, migratory birds are able to orient themselves thanks to particular “internal compasses” linked to the position of the Sun or stars or to the Earth’s magnetic field.
The ringing technique to track migrations
The technique used internationally to describe the migratory routes and behavior of birds isringing. The birds are equipped with a very light metal ring with an individual alphanumeric mark, let’s say almost a sort of tax code of the animal fixed to the paw. The ring obviously, due to its characteristics and weight, does not cause any discomfort to the bird, but it can be read and reread by an operator wherever the bird is in the world. Finding the code allows you to trace the migration backwards of each individual or determine their survival rates under the effect of various threats including climate change. Ringing presupposes continuous international coordination which in Europe is ensured by EURING.
Characteristics and habits of the robin
The robin is a small passerine songbird belonging to the Muscicapidae family which, despite a rather slender build (12-14 centimeters in length and 13.5 – 24.5 grams in weight) is a courageous defender of its territory and a skilled migrant. When it has to defend a good shelter site or a foraging area, it appears aggressive towards other specimens by inflating its plumage, jumping rapidly and highlighting its showy red color of the chestwithout being intimidated even by larger birds. It feeds on insects (both on the ground and in flight), snails and earthworms and feeding areas are generally chosen if they are close to a safe shelter. The maximum survival age of individuals observed through ringing data is 17 years and 3 months, but the average specimen lives much less.
It nests in the woods using cracks and cavities in trees, but has also adapted well to public parks and city gardens. The nest, where lays 4 to 7 eggsis shaped like a small cup and is made with moss, grass and foliage. Reproduction takes place, depending on the latitude, from the beginning of April to the end of July. Among the main predators of the eggs are the dormouse and the marten. Thanks to its high adaptability, it currently suffers less than other species from the consequences of climate change and other threats, is not in numerical decline and is, all things considered, in a satisfactory state of conservation.
