The Round Robin

This little self-inflating Robin certainly looks cute puffing its feathers up in a puffer-fish-style but its doing it for two very good, life-preserving reasons.



Firstly it's trying to keep warm. The video was taken on a cold, frosty morning and having a layer of insulating air between the body and the chilly outside air helps to keep the bird warm, in just the same way as a duvet keeps you warm at night.

Secondly there's a lot of competition for those seeds on the ground. The little Robin is surrounded by Grenfinches, Great Tits and Nuthatches all ready to snatch his breakfast from under his beak. When he puffs up his feathers he appears to be a much larger bird than he really is, and this raises his position in the pecking order. Ultimately this allows him to get a greater share of the food than if he were a smaller bird.


Scientific name: Erithacus rubecula

Size: Approx 14cm

Distribution: Found throughout the UK

Months seen: All year round

Habitat: Parks, gardens and woodlands

Life span: Robins can live for up to 10 years, but only around 25% survive beyond their first birthday

Food: Insects, seeds and berries

Special features: In towns and cities the robin has become known as the gardeners friend. This is because it is quite tame, and will closely follow gardeners as they dig the soil and turn over worms and grubs which the robin will eat.

The robin's striking red breast plumage is most noticeable in the winter months. For this reason they're frequently associated with Christmas, and robins are often depicted on Christmas cards.

Adult robins pair up from late December through until March. Although the male sits in a tree singing for a partner, initially it is the female who does all the chasing. Once the female is accepted by a male, he brings her food as part of their courtship ritual.

The males and females look so similar it's difficult to tell them apart. Even the robins themselves have trouble. The only way for a female to be accepted by a male is to keep landing in the males territory until he realises what she wants. Adult males are fiercely defensive of their territory, and will attack other males that try to encroach, so the females have to take their chances.

The nests are usually built in a hole, either in a tree, a bank or a wall. Sometimes they will also nest in garden sheds, if they can find an easy way in and out.

The female robin lays between three and seven eggs. The eggs are white with flecks of red. She incubates them for two weeks until they hatch. The young stay on the nest for a further two weeks, and during this time the male helps the female to feed the family.

Young robins have brown speckled plumage. They moult into their adult plumage in their first autumn.

lovely video Helen .. Robins remind me of Christmas x

Thank you for sharing this love, I agree with you Lou, I always think of them as the Christmas robin.

Hugs

JO xx

aww, fascinating. Love robins. I met one when I went for a job in Belfast. Was so tired and there all alone in the grounds of this stately home and had a while to wait for my interview and a little robin sat in a bush singing, then came closer and closer to me, singing away at me. so cute.x

My friend Paula and I would sit on a bench in the local park by the canal halfway through our doggie walk, a little robin used to come and perch on the back on the bench and wait for some dog biscuit crumbs - love robins x

aww[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] sweet.x

i love robins...