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  About Robins
With its gorgeous red waistcoat and melodic song the Robin is one of our most common and easily recognised garden bird; in the 2010 RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch it was the seventh most frequently recorded bird. Because of its association with winter and particularly Christmas it seemed appropriate to find out more about it.
In folklore the Robin is often viewed as a symbol of charity and compassion and various stories exist to support this view. One tale says that as Jesus was
on his way to be crucified, the Robin removed a thorn from his crown that was piercing his forehead. In doing so, the Robin was said to be pierced in the breast, marking its feathers with its own blood.
The bird was originally called the Redbreast or Ruddock (from the Old English word for red). It was only in the Middle Ages that it was given the nickname ‘Robert’ or ‘Robin’, just as the Wren was later called ‘Jenny’. It was mistakenly thought that only the cock had a red breast, and that Wrens were female Robins. In fact, both males and females have red breasts.
Despite their seemingly friendly nature Robins are highly territorial, aggressive and fierce fighters, willing to battle with rival birds to the death to defend their territory; females are just as aggressive as the males. The most important thing for any Robin is its territory, which supplies food for the bird and its young. For the males their territory is the place to attract mates.
To defend their territory, both males and females will fight and sing almost all year round. They use their vivid breasts as threat displays to scare away intruding birds. The female defends her own territory in autumn and winter, then the territory she shares with her mate in spring and summer.
The Robin’s song is high, clear and varied, with trills and sweet wistful notes. They can usually be heard singing their melodious warbling song from strategic perches, often quite high up; it sounds like ‘twiddle-oo, twiddle-eedee, twiddle-oo twiddle’. In
the winter, it can sound wistful, some say mournful, but around Christmas the song becomes stronger and more passionate.
Such is the beauty of the song that Robins were often trapped and kept in cages as songbirds, leading William Blake to write:
A Robin-redbreast in a cage
Puts all heaven in a rage.
Robins will sing all through the night and this often leads to them being incorrectly identified as a Nightingale. Streetlights were thought to be the cause making them believe it was still daytime, but the latest theory is that they are singing when it is quieter, when the hubbub of urban life has quietened and their song can be heard.
In late December, males begin to sing loudly in their territories to attract females. It is the female who chooses her mate and she may visit a number of territories before making her choice. The instinct to defend their territory is so strong that there is
usually a brief fight between male and female before he accepts her presence. The two birds then share the territory while the male courts the female by repeatedly feeding her.
Robins are rarely seen or heard during midsummer (July-August) when they are moulting and become rather retiring.
Today we associate Robins with Christmas, and it frequently appears on Christmas cards. A common explanation is that the Victorian postmen who delivered Christmas cards wore red uniforms, and
were nicknamed ‘Robin redbreasts’, so people associated receiving their cards with Robins. The truth is probably much simpler, the Robin is most visible at Christmas, when its bright red breast brings colour to drab surroundings, and the male begins to sing loudly to attract a mate.
The Robin's diet is principally insects and worms, which it will normally catch by snatching its prey
on the ground after watching for movement from a
perch above. They often follow a gardener that is digging the soil over for any easy pickings.
Robins, both males and females, hold their own separate feeding territories in the winter, which they defend vigorously. By around Christmas, many will have paired up. Initially, they do not spend much time together, merely tolerate one another, but will remain together until the following autumn moult.
British Robins are mostly sedentary though a few migrate to Spain and Portugal for the winter.
Juveniles disperse from their natal sites in May but very rarely move further than a few miles.
Finally what’s the collective noun for a group of Robins? Some say it’s a Worm of Robins, or it could be a Twitter, a Round or even a Bobbin - your suggestions are most welcome.
More about Robins in the Valley >>>
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Christmas
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