The European Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

            The European Robin was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th century work, Systema Naturae, under the name of Motacilla rubecula.[2] Its specific epithet rubecula is a diminutive derived from the Latin ruber 'red'.[3] The genus Erithacus was created by French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1800, giving the bird its current binomial name of E. rubecula.[4]

The distinctive orange breast of both sexes contributed to the European Robin's original name of redbreast (orange as the name of a colour was unknown in English until the sixteenth century, by which time the fruit of that name had been introduced). In the fifteenth century, when it became popular to give human names to familiar species, the bird came to be known as Robin redbreast, which was eventually shortened to Robin.[5] Other older English names for the bird include Ruddock and Robinet. In American literature of the late 19th century, this robin was frequently called the English Robin.[6] The Frisian robyntsje or robynderke is similar to the English name,[7] while Dutch Roodborstje and French Rouge-gorge both refer to the distinctively coloured front.[8]

The Robin belongs to a group of mainly insectivorous birds that have been variously assigned to the thrushes or "flycatchers", depending on how these groups were perceived taxonomically. Eventually, the flycatcher-thrush assemblage was re-analysed and the genus Erithacus assigned to a group of thrush-like true flycatchers, the tribe Saxicolini, that also includes the nightingale and the Old World chats.[9]

Two Eastern Palearctic species are usually placed in the genus Erithacus, the Japanese Robin (E. akahige) and the Ryūkyū Robin (E. komadori), the latter being a restricted-range island species. Biogeography and mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data indicate that these might better be classified with some Far Eastern "nightingales", leaving only the European species in Erithacus.[10]
[edit] Subspecies

Taken in: United Kingdom / England / Pool (show map)

Taken on: December 8, 2010

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The

European

(Erithacus

rubecula)

General Photography

Mark Winterbourne Photography Canon EOS Bradford West Yorkshire United Kingdom Leeds Yeadon

Mark Winterbourne Photography Canon EOS Bradford West Yorkshire

golden

acre

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Sets appears in: • Woodland & Forest • Golden Acre Park - 8th December 2010

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Camera: Canon EOS 50D, f/8.0, 1/640 sec, 235mm, ISO 400 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 50D
Lens:	EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
Aperture:	f/8.0
Exposure Time:	0.002 sec (1/640)
Focal Length:	235mm
ISO:	400
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows
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