This is a species native to the Western Palearctic, present throughout Europe from western Russia to the Atlantic coasts, and from the North African coasts to the northern boreal regions (Keller et al., 2020; BirdLife International, 2024). In Spain it mainly occupies the northern half of the peninsula, except for the Duero and Ebro depressions, but it is also present elsewhere, occupying forested and mountainous areas while avoiding arid and warm zones (Piñeiro in SEO/BirdLife, 2022). It occurs in the Balearic Islands, the central Canary Islands, and Melilla. On Tenerife there is a population of an endemic subspecies, Erithacus rubecula superbus, and on Gran Canaria the subspecies E. r. marionae occurs (Delgado in Lorenzo, 2007).

In Madrid it is a ubiquitous species due to its ecological plasticity and urban tolerance, although its highest abundances occur in the western and northern parts of the peninsula, especially on mountain slopes and foothills. It prefers pine and oak forests in the mountains, but also occurs in riparian woodlands, gardens, and shrublands in mountainous areas (Díaz et al., 1994).

In the national park it is very abundant, present in all forested and shrub areas, and is absent only on the highest slopes and summits.