The European Robin is found throughout Europe, north Africa and the Middle East extending to central Siberia. In western and southern Europe most birds are sedentary but in the north-east of Europe they migrate to the Mediterranean Basin during the winter.

They are found in a wide variety of habitats and are generally fairly tolerant of man. In the British Isles they are bold and confiding often feeding very close to humans but elsewhere such as in France they seem to be much less confiding.

The Robin is a small member of the thrush family and is brown with a rusty-red bib covering the face and breast. Its belly is white and it has long legs (not seen in this perched bird). Juvenile birds are finely spotted and lack the red bib.

The strange looking bird in the film "Mary Poppins" which is called a Robin is a model of an American Robin Turdus migratorius, a species never seen on the rooftops of London except in Hollywood's imagination.

The call is a short, hard tick or a series of ticks sounding like a watch being wound up. The alarm is a thin whistle and the song can be quite varied .