When is National Robin Day: Meaning and celebrations

21st December is considered National Robin Day (Photo: Bird Spot)

What is National Robin Day and its meaning?

National Robin Day is an annual nationwide event celebrated on 21st December aiming at raising awareness of small birds and other wildlife in winter and how you can help them through this tough time of year.

National Robin Day will bring people together, inspiring them to take action for wildlife. Ruby Robin is the star of National Robin Day. The nation’s favourite bird, robins symbolize the festivities of Christmas time. The cold winter months are especially tough for animals; as temperatures drop and food becomes scarce, wildlife such as garden birds need a little extra help. This is where you come in!

Whether it’s building a bird feeder, making a wildlife-friendly space in your garden, or holding a fundraising event, every small action goes a long way to helping Ruby Robin and her friends.

Everyone can get involved, it’s really easy for your workplace, school or group of friends to take part, we’ve got loads of tools to help get you started, according to nationalrobinday.co.uk.

About the Robin - Britain's national bird

1. They are members of the thrush family and so are related to Nightingales and Blackbirds. In fact, they're sometimes mistaken for nightingales, because they often sing at night, usually under artificial lights. If you're awake for the dawn chorus, one of the first birds you'll hear is probably a robin.
2. There are a couple of legends that tell the story of how the robin got his red breast. One is that a robin sang to Jesus on the cross to comfort Him, and the red breast is from drops of His Blood. Another says the robin used to carry water to souls in purgatory and their breasts were scorched by the flames.
3. Why Christmas, though? Probably because postmen in Victorian times wore red uniforms and were nicknamed "robins" or "redbreasts" and so the robin became a symbol of Christmas greetings.
4. Sports teams with red as a predominant home colour sometimes use "the Robins" as a nickname. As well as the colour, it's thought they choose this little bird as an emblem to represent agility and darting around the field. Crewe Alexandra, Cheltenham Town, Bristol City and Swindon Town are examples of football clubs using the nickname.
5. Robins are fiercely territorial and will fight to the death to defend their patch against other robins. In winter, both male and female robins hold their own territory and sing the same song. In Britain, the robin's territory is usually not far from where it was hatched, although some robins from Scandinavia migrate Mediterranean for the winter.
6. They tend not to live very long. There's a massive mortality rate during their first year of life, making the average lifespan just over one year - however, if they survive their first year they can live as long as eight years, and according to Wikipedia there has been a robin which lived for 19 years. The most frequent cause of death is being killed by a Cat, followed by getting killed in a dispute over territory. At least they no longer run the risk, as they did in Victorian times, of being turned into a lady's hat as robin skins were popular adornments for hats back then.
7. It's possible, though quite difficult, to recognise individual robins by their breast patterns, as each one is unique.
8. Robins will eat anything - fruit, insects, Spiders - even Cheese - but their favourite food is mealworms.
9. When mating, a male robin will bond with a female by bringing her food and feeding her, which can be mistaken for an adult bird feeding a chick. This is important as this is what the male will need to do when the female is incubating her eggs, and once they hatch, both parents share the task of feeding the chicks. So the female will want to be sure she's picked a mate who is good at finding food. Robins can raise as many as five broods in a breeding season with the male taking full responsibility for feeding the previous brood of chicks while the female incubates a new set of eggs.
10. Both male and female robins have red breasts. The red breast, particularly in the male, has evolved to help the bird defend its territory. This is probably why young robins don't get red breasts until after their first moult. A territorial scrap will start with the birds singing to each other, and then jockeying for positions on branches to best show off their red breasts to each other, reported Tropical Tens.

What can be done during the National Robin Day?

Whether it’s building a bird feeder, making a wildlife-friendly space in your garden, or holding a fundraising event, every small action goes a long way to helping Ruby Robin and her friends. Everyone can get involved, it’s really easy for your workplace, school or group of friends to take part in. Every actions that can benefit to the nature and create friendly environment for robin and other creatures as well are highly appreciated.

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