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).

Happy Halloween!

Thriller playing in the background would be suitable considering the holiday, but oh well! The Mannequin bird never fails to make me smile. This guy has to be one of the grooviest little animals out there.

I was thinking it'd be cool being a bird on Halloween; no teeth = no cavities from so much sugar. Then I remembered this from Series B of QI and decided it probably wouldn't be such a great idea after-all...

"Birds do not like chocolate. It is poisonous, and birds have only 20-30 taste buds, so they could not taste it anyway. A Smartie would kill a small songbird. Chocolate is also poisonous to humans, but the lethal dose is very high (22 pounds). Humans have 9-10,000 taste buds, but new ones grow every five days." (QI - Series B, Episode 2)

Sucks to be a bird then, I guess. Though most of them do have the awesome ability to fly, so I guess it's not all bad, right?

Fun Feathery Facts:
1. The earliest known bird is thought to be the fossil specimen, Aurornis xui.
2. Feathers didn't originate in birds; it is now believed that proto-feathers originated in dinosaurs, and were probably present in Velociraptors... Jurassic Park probably wouldn't have been as terrifying as if they'd known that back-in-the-days.
3. Some birds, such as the Hooded Pitohuis (Pitohui dichrous), are known to be toxic to touch or eat; they produce these toxins from food in their diet.

Toxic and appropriately coloured for this frightful day; the Hooded Pitohuis (Pitohui dichrous). He'd look really cool perched a-top some pumpkins (I wouldn't eat them afterwards, minds) - image from Top5's

4. All birds lay eggs; no living bird species is known to give birth to live young.
5. There is some debate over which bird has made the longest recorded flight, depending upon whether you go by days spent airborne or distance covered. This year, three Alpine Swifts are reported to have spent a non-stop total of 200 days airborne, whilst a female Godwit in 2007 reportedly flew non-stop from Alaska to New Zealand, a journey of 7145 miles (11,500km).
6. The Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) has the fastest dive speed of any bird at a speed of around 200 mph (320 km/h). In 2005, one particular falcon was recorded diving at a top speed of 242 mph (389 km/h).
7. Owls are excellent hunters and can fly more slowly than other birds, and do so almost silently thanks to noise muffling feathers in their wings. Their eyes are large relative to their small skull, but cannot be moved in any direction. Instead, owls can rotate their head 270° to look around.
8. The Potoo (Nyctibius spp.) is another nocturnal bird which relies heavily on their fantastic camouflage. In the day, they sit on tree stumps to avoid detection. They're also pretty comical looking, don't you think? 

"But I don't wanna go to school!" - image from fanpop.

9. The smallest known bird, the Bee Hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae), also produces the smallest eggs of any bird species. The eggs are no bigger than peas, and are lay in a tiny cup-shaped 1 inch (2.5 cm) nest. 
10. Whilst most nocturnal birds have evolved brilliant eyesight, the Kiwi might as well be blind. What it lacks in sight, however, it makes up for in it's ability to smell. Whilst most birds have little or no sense of smell, the kiwi bird's is highly developed. 

Taken from imgur.