Hi Gillian, I will leave this one to our resident robin guru on the forum (Monkeycheese) to answer more fully but yes, it is the sound of robins, the clicking sound (maybe male) and the other high pitched squeaky/whistle single call sound, probably by the female. All will be explained in more detail I am sure by Paul (MC) once he sees this post.
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Regards, Hazel
Hi Gillian, it's a call that I have heard my Robins making over the years and I have yet to find a definitive meaning for it. I have seen it described as a warning indicating overhead predators, but I have mostly heard it in other circumstances. I have mostly heard it after my Robins have paired up and it doesn't seem to be specific to male or female. In relation to overhead predators, such as Sparrowhawks, I have heard my Robins make this noise after the Sprawk has gone. I most recently heard it from my male Robin (HTR) while he was in the kitchen collecting live mealworms. Several Sparrows had gathered outside the door and as HTR hopped up onto the doorstep he saw them and made the mewling noise. No predators in sight.
As far as the ticking noise goes, or 'ditting' as I call it, several of my Robins have made that noise when I give them mealworms. HTR has even made this noise while he's in the kitchen and there are no cats there either. In fact, the Robin at the college where I work was ditting at me while he was eating his mealies this afternoon. I thought he was going to choke on one! I have also noticed that ditting is very much a part of the early morning ritual of male Robins from January onward and seems to precede their initial bout of territorial singing.
I'm sure you are no more the wiser now than before you started reading this. I find that the best way to figure out these things is to watch the Robins and try to work out what is going on around them each time it happens.
As ever, I'm only basing all these comments on my own observations, so I wouldn't say they were definitive.
Unicum arbustum haud alit duos erithacos
(One bush does not shelter two Robins)
Zenodotus (3rd Century B.C.)
That's really interesting, thanks Paul. I always find it more interesting to hear people's personal experiences rather than read something from a text book. I've heard it a lot over the last week and then this evening heard the female very loudly from across the garden and Mr Robin next to me doing it more softly back to her. I went to investigate her and she got very loud - like you, I read the aerial threat thing but there definitely wasn't any aerial threat around. Then I thought maybe I was the aerial threat (!), but then I've heard it at other times not related to me. So a bit of a mystery, like you say. They do have chicks in the nest at the moment, so could possibly be in connection to that.
I also find it really interesting what you say about the ditting - I've only ever seen them do it in relation to the cat so assumed that's what it meant, but sounds like not.
Mr Robin for the first time yesterday (and today) has now been brave enough to come and sit firstly on the boot of my welly when I have my legs crossed and then up onto my knee, after his usual worms. I've noticed he, the blackbird and the blue tits all get much braver when they have chicks to feed.
I'm definitely going to keep a close eye on them and see if I can shed any more light on the strange call, thanks for your advice!
And thanks Alan too! I posted the above before I saw your response, so sounds like I'm on the right track. Perhaps she wondered what her partner was doing sitting on the knee of a human :)
I'm just jumping on this thread to say I hear this song, too. Robins have suddenly returned to the garden in late summer as I can hear them singing. The Merlin app wasn't able to identify this particular sound, but it makes sense that it's a robin. Now the robin is singing furiously, so I don't know what the meaning of the plaintive peeps were. I will try to observe more closely. Unfortunately, due to the many resident cats, I hope none nest here