Robin: Warwick Sloss/NPL; swan: David Tipling/NPL; geese & card: Getty; sandpiper: The Natural History Museum/Alamy;Robins with hats: The David Pearson Collection/Mary Evans Picture Library; robin on shovel: Roger Wilmshurst/FLPAChristmas
Companion
Why are robins so closely linked to
Christmas? It’s biology and culture,
with a twist of history thrown in.
A
t this time of year, every
other Christmas card
seems to feature a robin.
Occasionally it’s a pair
of robins – even though,
as most people know, this species is
notoriously territorial.
By nature, robins are woodland birds.
They evolved to follow wild boars around
primeval forests, to feed on the worms
and other invertebrates brought up to the
surface when the animals dug for food.
But, until recently, wild boars had been
absent from Britain for many centuries,
so robins found a suitable substitute: us.
Our gardens – and our national obsession
with gardening – provide everything a
robin needs: plenty of food, shelter and
a place to breed.
As a result, the robin turned from a
shy, woodland bird into one that happily
lives alongside us, perching on a spade
or coming to our back door in search of
kitchen scraps. Their large, black, beady
eyes – a feature that enabled robins to
hunt in the low light of the forest
floor – also endeared them to
us, as did their habit of fluffing
out their feathers to keep warm.
It was hardly surprising
when, in 2015, it won the title
of Britain’s Favourite Bird. The
robin didn’t just win, it took
over one-third of the
vote. The result was,
in some ways, rather
odd, given the robin’s
justified reputation
for fighting its rivals.
As the man behind thepoll, David Lindo, sagely noted: “Despite
being a seemingly friendly bird, the
robin is hugely territorial. I presume that
reflects us as an island nation.”
This still doesn’t explain the deep-rooted
link between robins and Christmas. That
connection goes all the way back to 1840
and the launch of the ‘Penny Post’. To
encourage people to use the new service,
someone had the clever idea of producing
special greeting cards that they could send
to their friends and family. At the time,
postmen wore red uniforms and were
nicknamed ‘Robins’. It didn’t take long for
an illustrator to design a card featuring a
robin wearing a postman’s uniform and
carrying a card in its beak. The rest, as
they say, is history.
Yet the link may be even older.
One myth about the robin’s
red breast suggests that it
originated when a robin
fanned the flames of a fire
in the stable to warm baby
Jesus. Whatever its true
origin, there can be no
doubt that, when it
comes to birds on
Christmas cards, the
robin reigns supreme.In some ways it’s
rather odd, given
the robin’s justified
reputation for
fighting its rivals.