I knew that American Robins got their name from European settlers who thought they looked like the European Robins they were used to back home. Even though the ones back home were far smaller, weighing about a quarter as much. But I didn't know all the details in this great essay by Robert Francis called "How Robins Got Their Name." Specifically, I didn't know that the settlers gave the name Robin to any bird they saw with red on it. "At one time," writes Francis, "Eastern Bluebirds, which have a band of orange on their chests, were also referred to as Robins. Eastern Towhees were called Ground Robins, while Baltimore Orioles were Golden Robins." He goes on to report that there are over a hundred birds in the world now with robin in their name, and most of them have no relationship genetically to the European Robin or the American Robin, but were just given the name because they made Europeans think nostalgically of the Robins back home. Francis makes the deeper point that the newcomers didn't bother asking the people already in America what they called the birds. In fact, go read the whole essay - it's really good.
American Robin
Settlers called the American Robin a Robin
because it had red on it
just like the Robins back home.
In the same way,
I reacted to the African Thrush
and the Rufous-bellied Thrush
by saying,
“It’s basically a Robin.”
You feel more at ease
when you can recognize something.
You may be in a new continent,
but look around,
see what’s familiar.
No need to ask questions.
You already know what that is.
It’s a tree.
It’s a flower.
It’s a birdy.
©Ruth Bowen Hersey
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