Winter is Coming

The scarves and gloves are coming out, the days are getting colder, and the nights are getting longer.  It can only mean one thing! Winter is coming, and it's that time of the year where all the shops start trying to sell us fruit pudding, gaudy knitted sweaters and gift-sets of soap, and every café is playing Christmas songs three weeks too early for my liking. If  hear 'Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer' one more time, I might have to scream.

A European Robin, Erithacus rubecula, with it's feathers puffed up for warmth - image by Jean-Daniel Echenard on Flickr.

The only thing I don't mind seeing everywhere (other than cheap chocolates) are the cute little animals that are usually associated with Christmas here in Europe; Deer, Polar Bears and the proud little Robin. The European Robin (Erithacus rubecula), that is; I discovered whilst writing this that the American Robin (Turdus migratorus) is very different in appearance. There are even Australian Robins, with all the species belonging to the genus Petroica.

The American Robin, Turdis migratorus - image by
 KellyColgan Azar on Flickr.

Though the Robin seems to have been tied to the festive season, it's actually a bird you can see all year round in the UK. My parents often have one hopping around below the bushes in the back garden, and during a hike along Dorset's 'Jurassic Coast' in late September, I saw between 6 and 10 single Robins in a 1-hour stretch. We stopped counting after Robin number 5, to be honest...


Robins are cool little guys, though. Like many migratory birds, Robins have an inbuilt magnetic compass in both of their eyes (Hein et al, 2011)(Deutschlander & Muheim, 2010), though not all of the UK's Robins are migratory. Both males and females of the species are also aggressively territorial birds (RSPB, 2011). And some good news, for once! The population levels of Robins are doing well; since 1970, the Robin population has increased by 45% (RSPB, 2011).

The Flame Robin, Petroica phoenica, one of the many
species of Australian Robin - image by Leo on Flickr.

But this isn't to say they've escaped the effects of urbanisation. Anthropogenic noise pollution has been found to alter the singing behaviour of male Robins and causes them to move away from areas with high levels of noise (McLaughlin & Kunc, 2013), or to sing at night (Fuller et al, 2007); an argument to stop playing all those Christmas tunes? Light pollution in urbanised areas has also been show to alter the behaviour of European Robins, causing them to begin singing earlier before sunrise (Kempenaers et al, 2010) (Hasan, 2010).

All that aside; why are the little Robins associated with Christmas?

There are a few theories bouncing around in the internet, but the most common theory is that the association originated in the early to mid 1800s, when postmen were known as 'redbreasts' due to the scarlet uniforms they wore. With more postmen seen around Christmas time, the European Robin Redbreast apparently began appearing upon cards and postage stamps goods as a representation of the postmen (FoHBCP) (YPTE) (Wikipedia, 2013).