"If on a frosty morning
the robin redbreast calls,
his waistcoat red and burning
like a beggar at your walls.
Throw breadcrumbs on the grass for him
when the ground is hard and still,
for in his breast there is a flame
that winter cannot kill."
- Iain Crichton Smith (Scottish Poet)
Unlike most birds that migrate during winter to escape the shorter, colder days the robin prefers staying back and continues to be visible and audible looking for food in the garden making it synonymous with Christmas time. If you don't see a Robin in your garden during Christmas you are sure to see it on a Christmas greeting card! When the Royal mail was introduced, the postmen wearing red uniforms were nicknamed "Robins" by common folk eagerly waiting to hear from their loved ones since most folk got mail only during Christmas!
The distinctive orange breast of both sexes contributed to the European robin's original name of "redbreast". Orange as a colour name was unknown in the English language until the 16th century, by which time the fruit had been introduced.
Legend has it a little brown bird was fanning a fire to keep baby Jesus warm in the manger when a spark from the embers burnt its chest feathers whereby it got its red colour and its name - Robin redbreast!
European Robin/ Robin Redbreast
(Erithacus rubecula)
Sony A77ii
Tamron 150-600
f/6.3, 1/250s, ISO3200, 420mm
Stamford, (UK)
Dec - 2020