A European Robin, Erithacus rubecula, aka Robin Redbreast, perched on a broken branch against a natural green background.
Robins are very familiar birds throughout the UK, found in a variety of habitats including gardens, woodland, parks and hedgerows. Here they are bold and friendly: they will take food ‘from the hand’ on snowy or icy days, and they will complain if their regular garden food has run out and hasn’t been replaced. On mainland Europe, they tend to be far shyer and flightier all year, whereas here they usually only skulk in late summer when they are moulting their feathers therefore are more vulnerable.
European Robins use their red breasts in their threat displays. Robins are very territorial and will chase off any intruding Robin from what they consider their patch. During these face-offs, each Robin faces the other head on and raises his head and neck showing off their fine breast. In my garden, Robins also will not tolerate Dunnocks, and harrass them mercilessly, usually chasing them right out of the garden.
In the breeding season, female Robins bow low to hide their red breasts (the birds are indistinguishable in the field) to stop being chased off by the males before courtship can begin. Young birds have speckled breasts, and the red gradually ‘fades in’ during their first few months. This is to protect them from being harrasses by territorial adults.
Robins were voted the UK’s National Bird in 2015.
This photograph is copyright © Liz Leyden, all rights reserved.
My image of a European Robin is for sale as wall art art or as various home or personal accessories at Pixels.com.
My original photo from which this image was derived, is available to license as a stock image from iStock.
