Taxonomy/Origins: Data refers that this bird comes from China. I have seen them on Hong Kong island as well. Though these, or their predecessors, may have been liberated after being purchased from a bird shop.
Subspecies: There could be sub species or minor races but I am not aware of them.
Plumage Colouration: This bird has been discribed in most bird books. While there is no need for a detailed description I can say they are grey in body colour,pale lower chest with an orange wash close to the throat and a red bill.
Sexing: Mistakes can be made, but in general, if the birds are in good condition they can be sexed. Males have more orange/brown on the throat and the wing flash can be bigger and brighter. More importantly if it sings it's a male. Females won't sing, but have a rather monotonous single syllable call. The Singapore bird dealers don't seem to have a problem sexing them, as soon as a shipment arrives all males are caught up, put in small cane cages and sold as song birds, the hens are then sold off cheap as they are not wanted - What a shame!
Feeding: It is described as a softbill (non seed eater), but in my opinion they will just about eat anything. A little seed, a lot of soaked seed, coated currants, soft fruit, madeira cake and live food.
Housing: This bird has evolved in dense or semi-dense planted areas with strong perching feet and short broad wings to be able to twist and turn rapidly. With this in mind it would be wise to keep them in a flight with at least one dense shrub. Pekin Robins will live and hopefully breed in this area. They love bathing so supply a large bathing bowl, this will be used several times a day, in the summer possibly every hour. I have seen them bath so vigorously that they were so wet that they couldn't fly. They are far happier in an aviary rather than a cage.
Breeding: They will breed if you give them the facilities to do so. All of mine are kept in planted flights. Rarely do I find a nest being built, on rare occasions I will discover a hen sitting but generally the chicks have hatched and the parents are hanging on the door wanting mealworms. I then watch where they go, which quite often it takes a long time. I have a very large walk in flight and this season I had a bus load of bird people visit. Some 40 people filed past a shrub right beside the path, unknown to them and I, a Robin was sitting at eye level. I discovered the nest 2 days latter when the parents came for mealworms.
The nest is cup shape about the size of a tennis ball, mine have always built in growing shrubs or fine bamboo. The outside of the nest is generally constructed from the outer sheaths of the finer bamboos and the inside lined with coconut fibre. The eggs are pink/white with brown spots and smudges. Generally 3-4 eggs to a clutch and they hatch around 12+ days. The hens won't get off the nest for me to check them out. Young fledge very quickly, all legs, head and wings, but no tail. They will scramble around the shrubs for another 14 to 18 days still being feed by the parents or should I say the male as the female is most likely incubating again. To rear young the parents need live food in vaste quantities, mealworms and more mealworms, crickets are excellent as they have bulk and roughage. If you are feeding crickets and you don't want to pull legs off to stop them escaping simply put them in a refrigerator for a short time this really slows them up. Softfood and soft fruit is also taken in large quantities at this stage especially if you have 3/4 feathered chicks wanting to be feed. Just prior to independence the parents stop feeding live food which seems to force the young to the feed tray. This is the time to catch them up and put a split ring on a leg. As young they are a dull grey, but left with the parent they colour up in no time and you won't be able to tell which are young and which are adults. If conditions are right 3 or 4 successful nests should be expected (given a favourable climate). Once again, keep giving the fresh water to them as they need it .They will bred in rather small aviaries provided you give them nest sites, but remember if the aviary is small the parents will rely on you to supply all the food for their young.
Hints/tips: When purchasing a Pekin Robin make sure the bird is active and bright eyed. If its feathers are tatty this is not a major problem, as they seem to recover quickly with good conditions .Old birds tend to loose the small feathers around the oil gland at the base of the tail. Pick young similar aged birds, give them the correct enviorment, plenty of live food and they should breed successfully for you.
Unique Characteristics: These birds are beautiful songsters, I enjoy listening to mine drown out the male blackbirds singing in our area.
They do tame down, especially to get mealworms. They are fairly hardy and are no problems in my aviaries. I doubt if they are a begginners bird though, especially when it comes to a breeding programme.
Extra: This bird is not related to the Robins. It is actually a member of the Babbler family. I have read in numerous books and journals that this bird will eat smaller finches eggs and young. While I am not saying this hasn't happened in all the years I have kept them (25 years) I doubt if I have experienced this problem. In fact this season a pair of Jacarinis finches reared young in the same shrub at the same time as a pair of Robins raised their brood. The Jacarinis builds a tiny cup shaped nest with eggs or chicks in full view. Others were breeding throughout the aviary. Watch your birds but don't accuse them of bad deeds until you know for sure. This species would have to be one of my favorites.
David Holmes: holmesdj5@yahoo.com.au
