The life and times of our garden robins

Two young robins followed a parent to the feeding station outside the lounge this morning, they were fatly round, brown and speckled, it was the first time I had seen either of them. Each of the fledglings waited on the ground while the parent flew to the fat dispenser, one trip down to feed one of the fledglings was enough to teach both of the youngsters and with one accord, they each took wing landed on the large square fat dispenser and started feeding.

We are lucky to have several pairs of robins nesting in the garden/garage/greenhouse, they give us pleasure throughout the year. In the garage they nest in a rolled up tennis net and have done so for more than twenty years, obviously not the same robins because they don't live that long. They also nest in a wicker basket hung from the roof in the garage, years ago I used to wonder if they found food inside the garage, then twice in the last few years when we have cleared and cleaned the garage we found a multitude of spiders, woodlice and various other insects and also one of the biggest fattest toads we have ever seen, on each occasion we found him in the same corner. Clearly there is enough food in the garage for a huge toad and also I imagine to supplement the diet of robins, when the weather is very bad.

In the garden they nest in the wood pile, in bushes and once in an old kettle hanging from a branch, in the greenhouse the favourite nesting place is inside one of the flowerpots stored there. Their nests are made of leaves, dried grass and moss, and lined with feathers and or hair. Two or three times a year they lay five or six eggs of a creamy colour with reddish brown speckles or blotches. Egg incubation is twelve to fifteen days and is done by the female while the male brings food to her, once the eggs hatch the male will feed the nestlings and female for the first few days, while the female broods them to keep them warm.

After a few days the chicks are down covered and the mother is then able to leave them, at this point she helps the male feed their brood, they will bring each chick up to forty meals a day. The adults will feed their young during the whole of the daylight hours, and I have found that with an outside light left on they will continue to collect food and feed their young long after dark. Although I have my doubts about whether this is really good for them, because of the energy expended during the day, I feel  perhaps they need the night hours to rest.The youngsters will fledge after twelve to fifteen days,when the brood will be divided and the parents will each concentrate on feeding their group.At this point the youngsters are very attractive, they are brown with brown speckles, that may not sound attractive, but because of the shades of brown and their shape they are very eye catching.

Although robins are very territorial and the males will at times fight each other to the death, especially in the breeding season their interactions with people are totally different. I have often heard them referred to as the gardeners friend, and indeed have found this to be so. Go into the garden to do some weeding or pruning and there is the robin, hopping here and there dodging  your trowel or perched on the prunings looking for insects or caterpillars, and making short work of anything edible he happens to find.

The diet of the robins in our garden is varied and consists of spiders, worms, grubs, insects, caterpillars, berries, apples, dried fruit, shredded suet, meal worms, oats, bird seed and a great favourite of theirs are fat balls.

Twice I have heard that male and female robins can be told apart by the brown on their forehead, in a male it is supposedly "U" shaped and in the female is "V" shaped. I cannot confirm this as despite having heard it twice, whenever I see a robin I am always so busy watching his behaviour that I forget to look out for it! Will try harder.