Robin's Winter Song

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In the period just before the onset of this autumnal territorial behaviour, Robins are hard to find. We tend to think of the Robin as just being there, but if you keep notes on the birds you see in your garden or on your patch, you may well have noticed that in the second half of the summer these common little birds are not so easily seen. urn:lcp:robinswintersong0000bart:epub:f0c9219e-f47c-4d20-aa3d-d50be71f697c Foldoutcount 0 Identifier robinswintersong0000bart Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t3xt5tn51 Invoice 1652 Isbn 9781408859148 Those that head for some winter sun in Europe, then return to their breeding areas by the beginning of March. Talk about anything that is puzzling eg the idea of birds flying south or bears having ‘one long sleep’ in the winter

The premise is quite amusing. When all of Robin's friends talk about Winter's impending arrival, he assumes it's a person. And that person sounds kind of nasty: scary, greedy, and cold. Since Robin's not a migrating bird, he hunkers down with Bear to wait out Winter's visit. But then he wakes up and sees the world transformed into a wonderland, plays with all of his friends in the snow, and ends up enjoying himself immensely. When he hears that Spring is coming, he doesn't get scared but, rather, looks forward to it. I often wonder whether the Robins I see on my Extremadura patch in the winter are the same Robins I see on my British patch in the spring and summer! They start this southerly journey at the same time the birds that are staying behind start their autumnal song. Another story is that a Robin pulled a thorn from the crown of Christ while he was on the cross, and that it was Christ’s blood that created the bird’s red breast.

Robin’s Winter Song is a beautifully illustrated picture book that is the perfect read for this time of year. Autumn is almost over and winter is coming. But what exactly is winter? So why are they singing? Well, as in the spring, it’s to establish a territory, but, unlike in spring, they’re not singing to attract a mate to it. This territory is not for sharing. The Robin is well known for being a belligerent defender of its territory, and in early autumn they’re at their most aggressive as they compete with one another to establish the ownership of their autumn and winter quarters. ROBINS DEFENDING THEIR TERRITORY The males of the previous breeding season’s territories tend to remain resident within them, although the boundaries may be slightly modified. The female will sometimes also defend a territory near to the breeding one, but they are more likely to move away. The Story: Robin notices something is different when trees start losing their leaves, finches fly south and Squirrel is busy burying nuts. Helearns that winter is coming but is frightened as hedoesn’t know what winter is. He snuggles up to sleep with Bear and when he wakes up there is snow everywhere. Robin discovers that winter is fun and when the snow starts to melt he’s determined that spring, whatever it is, won’t frighten him. Another theory relates to the fact that the Robin is not the cute, friendly bird of Christmas card fame, but a rather aggressive species that readily enters into disputes. Could it be that after spending several weeks skulking and hiding away while it went through the moult, the Robin feels the need to reassert itself over its neighbours and the now adult-feathered first-year birds?

If the birds are not looking to attract a mate to their territory, why are they expending energy in defending one? The obvious answer that comes to mind is food. The theory goes that the bird is defending a territory that will be able to provide it with sufficient food to see it through the non-breeding season. It sounds entirely plausible, but unfortunately it isn’t the case. The illustrations look like they're a mixture of drawing and some sort of collage, either paper or fabric (I'm not really sure). They're really cute, in any case. There are nice little touches with leaves, pine needles, and (eventually) crocuses embellishing the illustrations, which helps show the passage of the seasons. One theory is that, at the time the sending of Christmas cards first became popular, in the 1860s, postmen wore bright red uniforms, and were so sometimes called ‘Robins’ – early Christmas cards include designs in which the bird bears an envelope in its bill.

Where do robins live?

It won’t be long before the species that won last year’s Vote for Britain’s National Bird will be staring at you from the corner of your living-room. The Robin, quite possibly hopping around in the sort of snowfall we rarely see in December, and maybe even sporting a Santa hat, will be the star of a good many of the Christmas cards that you receive. In fact, the word ‘move’ doesn’t really do this justice; a better word would be migrate. We don’t tend to think of our humble Robin as a migratory bird, but in the east of its range it is a true migrant, with Scandinavian, eastern European and Russian birds all leaving their breeding areas for milder winter ones.

Collect autumn leaves and make leaf prints. You will need paint and paper. You could also make sponge prints of birds and decorate with collage paper wings when dry. Make a Snowflake card My main complaint, though, is the writing. It wasn't too bad for the most part, except right at the end. Suddenly, there were a whole bunch of -ly adverbs, and Bear smiled his speech (which is an instant loss of a star from me; you simply can't make words come out of your mouth with a silent action). Robins prefer breeding near water, in deciduous, mixed or coniferous forests, as well as in man-made parks and gardens. Since they look for food mainly on the ground, areas with a little undergrowth are best. Where do robins build their nests?It is estimated that 10% of all adult Robin deaths are caused by other Robins, and it is when the birds are establishing their autumn and spring territories that these fatalities are most likely to occur. A Robin singing on a cold morning may well be music to our ears, but it can be very dangerous for other Robins nearby.

Children could retell the story using the illustrations to guide them. Make a robin finger puppet together that they can use to help them tell the story. Talk about the story Before you start reading talk about the cover image together. Has your child seen a robin in a garden or park? Read the story aloud to your child pausing to talk about the illustrations and what is happening when your child wants to. Re read But there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to what the female British Robin does in the late autumn; some stay where they are, some move short distances and others migrate to Europe, going as far as southern Spain. One fable holds that when the baby Jesus was in his manger, the fire lit to keep him warm blazed up very strongly. A brown bird placed himself between the fire and Jesus, fluffed out his feathers, but got its breast scorched by the fire, and the Robin was the result. Robins breed from March to July, raising up to 3 clutches. The female incubates her eggs for about 14 days, while her partner supplies her with food. After hatching, the young are fed in the nest for another 14 days. This is a dangerous time for the young hatchlings. Since the nest is so close to the ground, they are susceptible to nest robbers like cats and magpies. And it’s precisely because of this danger, that robins will often begin building their second nest before the first brood is fully independent. Where do robins spend the winter?

Teaching about the latest events?

Most of our breeding Robins are sedentary in nature, although some will disperse to breed in a new area. Some individuals appear to undertake migratory movements and many Robins from colder countries like Scandinavia and Finland will pass through Britain in the autumn en route to Iberia or North Africa. Some of these birds will remain in Britain for the winter.