Is there still room for robins at Christmas?
What do you think is the most popular bird to feature on Christmas cards? I bet most people would choose the robin.
But this year, we have been surprised to discover that cards with robins on are not our bestsellers. In fact, robin cards are not even in the top five.
Robins, crowned as the UK's national bird in 1960, have been knocked off their top spot by a set of cards that show firecrests, blue tits and long-tailed tits. Our shoppers have also favoured tree sparrows, water birds and barnacle geese over robins.
In many ways, it’s a good thing. We sell around two million RSPB Christmas cards every year, which raise almost three quarters of a million pounds for our conservation work.
Firecrests, blue tits and long-tailed tits will all suffer in this freezing weather, along with other small-bodied birds. Hopefully a cheery picture will remind people to look after sometimes overlooked small garden birds with food and water as winter rolls on.
Are we really ready to say goodbye to robin redbreast as our traditional Christmas favourite? They have been a symbol of the season for generations. The first commercial Christmas cards in the 1860s showed robins delivering Christmas cards to Victorian families. Their red tummies mirrored the red outfits worn by postmen.
But in Birds Britannica, Mark Cocker and Richard Mabey suggest that our connection of this little bird with Christmas goes back way beyond the nineteenth century. They wonder whether our link to this bird is 'has a dash of paganism'. Perhaps we are drawn to robins at this time of year because their cheery song and bright red breasts provide colour in a dead season?
I still love robins and I bet many of you do too! Share your love for them by uploading pics to our wildlife photo gallery.
And tomorrow, you'll get the chance to tell us whether you're a robin fan or prefer to put firecrests and geese on your mantelpiece by voting for your favourite Christmas card bird in our poll.