#I JUST LOVE THEM SO SO MUCH JFHDHJFJSJFJD

[sphylor]

Sphyyyyy please tell me all the things about Robins 😊

okay okay okay SO. european robins are these little guys: (pics my own you can find better ones online though)

more under the cut :3

they are so silly and sweet and theyre my favourite. this one ive actually sorta become friends with! robins in the uk are pretty curious when it comes to humans (in mainland europe they and other songbirds used to be hunted and trapped so theyre a lot more afraid of humans but robins were never hunted in the uk). if you're digging in the garden they will sit nearby and watch for any worms you unearth. also just in general they like to watch humans and are generally unfazed if they spot you watching them too. there have been so many cases of people befriending robins. i remember watching a news segment on an old lady who had a robin who would fly into her home and they would sit and watch the telly together HFHSH.

theyre also extremely territorial though when it comes to other robins and sometimes just other birds in general (i saw my robin friend chase away a pair of bluetits the other week fjndnc) so the average lifespan of a robin is around 13 months as most dont survive their first year due to territorial disputes. however if they do survive beyond that then they have been known to live up to 19 years old!! which is pretty impressive for such a small bird. but to give you an idea of how territorial they are they have been known to try and fight their own reflections and even red feather dusters!!

also speaking of the colour red they have the nickname "robin red-breast" which may seem strange considering that their breast is actually orange. the reason for this is because when they were named we just didnt have a word for the colour orange until the 16th century. this is also one of the reasons why they are so heavily related to christmas as well! during the victorian times sending christmas cards became a tradition and the posties would wear big red coats to keep them warm and so they earned the nickname of "robin" or "redbreast" and so artists started depicting robins on postcards to represent the people who delivered them! also robins dont tend to migrate from the uk during the winter and we even get more who migrate over from Scandinavia during this time of year so you see them a lot and their bright orange feathers are easy to spot. theres also some myths surrounding robins and the story of the birth of christ. one of them says there was a fire in the stable and the robin flapped its wings over it to put it out but the flames turned its breast orange in the process and Mary blessed all robins to henceforth have a orange breast because of this.

they are normally one of the first birds you hear in the morning and the last ones you hear in the evening as they start singing around half an hour before sunrise and stop around half an hour after sunset. they have a different song in the warmer months to that of the one in the colder months. their winter song sounds lot more... mournful and sorrowful? you really have to listen to them both and compare them to understand the difference.

they will rarely ever nest in a manmade bird box and even if they do its one that has a wide square opening rather than the small circular hole most birdboxes have. but even then they still prefer to nest in natural areas close to the ground and out of the way. their nests are normally cup shaped and made out of dead grass moss and leaves rather than twigs and they line them with hair (tip for people who own cats or dogs or other animals with a lot of hair that you have to brush: leave out the hair in like an empty bird feeder so that birds can use them to make their nests!!)

and finally I'll leave you with a video i recorded of one singing back in september. you'll see that multiple times it looks down at me and sees im there but its unbothered and doesnt fly away

:3