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. Robins are happy to use bird boxes, but they do prefer large entrances–about 10 centimetres high. Spotted flycatchers, wagtails and wrens will also make use of a birdhouse with such a large opening. You can find more tips on the materials and dimensions for your birdhouse, and how best to clean it in our article on building your own bird box. How can I support robins even more? Ocr tesseract 4.1.1 Ocr_detected_lang en Ocr_detected_lang_conf 1.0000 Ocr_detected_script Latin Ocr_detected_script_conf 0.8923 Ocr_module_version 0.0.11 Ocr_parameters -l eng Old_pallet IA-NS-2000215 Openlibrary_edition 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. 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.

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. Robins are particularly associated with Christmas. Investigate with the children the various ways that the robin is depicted at Christmas: on cards, calendars, wrapping paper and decorations. Make a display of these. But maybe the reason is much simpler. Their red breasts mean Robins are noticeably colourful at the darkest, dullest time of year, and their habit of singing throughout autumn and winter embeds them in our consciousness just as the festive season approaches – perhaps the cards are our nod to their role in lifting our spirits when we need it most. ROBIN FACTFILE: Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2021-02-06 14:01:29 Boxid IA40056617 Camera Sony Alpha-A6300 (Control) Collection_set printdisabled External-identifierIn 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. Robins are real water lovers; often found near bodies of water and in humid places. If you don’t want to install a pond in your garden right away, however, set out a bird bath. Your garden robins will be happy for it and are sure to splash around in the warmer months. urn:lcp:robinswintersong0000bart:epub:f0c9219e-f47c-4d20-aa3d-d50be71f697c Foldoutcount 0 Identifier robinswintersong0000bart Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t3xt5tn51 Invoice 1652 Isbn 9781408859148 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?

So manythemes that are familiar to children areincluded in Robin’s Winter Song– friendship, uncertainty, the changing of the seasons, dealing with new experiences. It would make a fabulous addition to a home or school library.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 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. In group discussion, ask the children if they have ever seen this type of bird and how it can be recognised.

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 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. 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? But, there seems to have been an earlier association between the bird and the Christmas period, and Christianity more generally. Since females rarely sing, one of the more obvious ways to distinguish males from females – at least during breeding season – is to notice which bird is singing. What is the perfect habitat for robins?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