Chirpy Robin

The UK's favourite bird - with its bright red breast it is familar throughout the year and especially at Christmas! Males and females look identical, and young birds have no red breast and are spotted with golden brown. Robins sing nearly all year round and despite their cute appearance, they are aggressively territorial and are quick to drive away intruders. They will sing at night next to street lights. Today we associate robins with Christmas, and the bird always 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, for the robin is most visible at Christmas, when its bright red breast, which the bird puffs out to keep warm, brings colour to drab surroundings, and the male begins to sing loudly to attract a mate. It is also in the depths of winter, when insect food is scarce, that robins are most tame. So robins have always been as much a part of the Christmas scene as snow and holly.