Whenever I am working in the garden, I almost always have a robin as my companion. They are very tame birds and are always the first to visit when I fill the bird feeders each day.
Recently, one of the main tasks I had to do was weeding and hoeing the flower borders. Within a few minutes of starting, a robin joined me, often only a couple of feet away. He occasionally had a look in the wheelbarrow to see if I had thrown in a grub or earthworm. At this time of year, the robin can often be seen with a mouthful of food to take back to the nest.
This robin has been searching a wheelbarrow of weeds looking for a meal.
I have read that, in their natural habitat at the edge of woodland, robins follow wild boar hoping that they turn up a tasty meal. In the garden, they follow the hoe and rake hoping to get a meal that way.
Despite their cute appearance, the robin is a very aggressive and territorial bird who will often fight a rival fiercely to maintain his domain. Even so, they are one of my favourite birds, and a welcome visitor to the garden.
Related articles
- Rockin’ Robins (muirofdinnetnnr.wordpress.com)
- Robin’s song. (twogrow.com)
- Providing Food to Attract Birds, Butterflies and Other Animals (donnallong.com)
- Top British garden birds revealed (bbc.co.uk)
- The robin redbreast that became my friend (theguardian.com)
