European Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

Taxonomy
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. Its specific epithet rubecula is a diminutive derived from the Latin ruber 'red'.

The distinctive red patch on the chest of both sexes led to the European Robin's original name of redbreast. 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. The word is related to the Frisian robyntsje or robynderke, and a Dutch dialect word robijntjie.

Behaviour
The Robin is well known to British and Irish gardeners: it is relatively unafraid of humans and likes to come close when anyone is digging the soil, in order to look out for earthworms and other food freshly turned up.

American robins
The larger American Robin, Turdus migratorius, is named for its similarity to the European Robin, but the two birds are not closely related.

Fun facts courtesy of wikipedia.org.