Robins

This Thursday 21st December is National Robin Day, drawing attention to the challenges faced by robins over the winter. Robins are one of the more successful songbirds at adapting to the challenges of winter and surviving the conditions. They are one of the few birds whose song we hear over midwinter and the Christmas period, with both males and females singing throughout the winter to defend their territories, sometimes surprisingly aggressively! As the tradition associating robins with Christmas suggests, they are one of the birds we are most likely to see at this time of year. 

Robin Erithacus rubecula 

Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)

But even the relatively hardy robin can find things tough on a cold night. A nighttime temperature of -2°C means that a lot of energy is needed to just keep warm overnight. Experiments have shown that this would mean a loss of 8.9% of an individual robin's mass in just one night, bringing an even harder day to follow to recoup lost fat.

So what can we do to help robins this National Robin Day, and indeed throughout the winter period? Firstly, we can provide them with the right kind of food. Naturally, robins feed mostly on insects (especially beetles) and worms, but these become harder to come by when the ground is hard. Robins are ground feeding birds, so will not come to hanging bird feeders that you might put out for other birds. Instead, feeding trays, either at ground level, attached to a feeding pole or as a bird table are ideal. Make a mixture of bird seed, sunflower hearts and mealworms, sprinkle it out on a tray and wait for the robins to arrive! Ideally provide seeds without husks as birds use up valuable energy removing them. In cold weather you might add some suet pellets as these provide a rich source of fat.

It's best to provide a consistent food supply, putting food out at the same time of day so that birds don't waste energy searching unnecessarily. In an ideal world, we should refresh food twice day, once first thing in the morning to help the birds replenish fat supplies lost overnight, and once late afternoon to get them through the cold night ahead. 

Robin Erithacus rubecula, adult feeding on suet cranberry nibbles at basket ground feeder

Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com)

Another vital piece of help we can give is to provide a constant supply of fresh, clean, unfrozen water. Be careful to place whatever container you use out of the way of predators and from bushes where predators may lurk. 

And finally, try to have places in your garden where birds can shelter on a cold winter's night, such as evergreen conifers, trees and shrubs or a clump of ivy. A pile of branches or foliage can be placed on the ground to provide shelter from wind and snow. After Christmas you might even lay your Christmas tree in your garden for a while to provide some shelter!