Page 58 - World of Animals - Issue #28 Magazine

Robins: heroes or villains?

The little bird that

stole our hearts

On the same day as 2015’s UK general election, more than 224,000 Britons
took part in a poll to elect the nation’s favourite bird. The shortlist starred
many of our country’s avian icons, including the barn owl, the mute swan
and the puffin, but it was an everyday garden visitor, the robin, which flew

away with the top spot, securing 34 per cent of the votes.
What is it about robins that so captures our imagination? With a range
spanning from Siberia, throughout Europe, to as far south as northern
Africa, it’s not as if they’re exclusively ‘ours’. In fact, virtually every continent
has its own ‘robin’, though for the most part, these are not related species
– the one thing they have in common is that distinctive reddish chest.
To so decisively thrash the other contenders, you can only assume that
our love affair with this peppy bird goes beyond the colour of its plumage,
though. The truth is, this little songbird has been earning our affections for
centuries. As in all politics, it comes down to the best all-round campaign:
building trust by getting closer than most garden birds; tirelessly broadcasting

from sunrise to sunset with their bright, confident song; and, of course, scoring
a huge PR victory by becoming the bird that represents Christmas.
But there’s another far less wholesome side to this candidate. When it comes
to defending its turf, the robin will go to any lengths to keep out rivals. It will try
to out-sing, and then to out-dazzle. But if all else fails, it’s not afraid to resort to
violence or even murder. Which leads to the question: do we really know our favourite
bird as well as we thought?

Our love affair with this peppy bird goes
“Our love affair with this peppy bird goes
beyond the colour of its plumage”
beyond the colour of its plumage”

e
Adult robinin
o
n
bi
r
J
A d ult r o b Juvenile robin poll, a campaign is now underway to
uv
e
i
l
n
ABOVE Following the result of the

have the robin offi cially recognised as
Britain’s national bird, akin to France’s
Eye Beak rooster or the US’s bald eagle
Although our understanding The thin bill is well-adapted for
of magnetoreception – winkling out insects from the

using Earth’s magnetic ground, catching flying bugs in the Feathers

fields to navigate – is far air or picking berries and seeds. The plumage of young robins is brown
from complete, the robin’s and speckled to help camouflage

built-in compass is thought them from potential predators, while
to be centred around light- downy fluff helps to keep them warm.

sensitive cells in its right eye.
Red breast
Shared by males and
females, the bird’s
most famous feature is
primarily displayed as a
deterrent to other robins.
No red
The lack of red/orange feathers reduces
the chances of disputes with other
robins. These start to appear during the
Legs first molt, a few months a er fledging.

Relatively long, spindly
legs are helpful for hopping
through grass or leaf litter
when foraging on the ground.
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