R: This feisty singer brings good cheer

Only little, but robins punch above their weight in being my R reason to be cheerful. The European robin, which is the one I'm familiar with, has the most delightful song and looks cute as anything, which is no doubt one reason why it appears on so many Christmas cards.

There have been calls for Britain to adopt the robin as its national bird and frankly I think that's a good idea. Robins are actually widespread through Europe but when I see one here on Skopelos it always makes me think of Britain.

R is for robin.

Robins may well have a song to bring cheer to everyone and make ideal subjects for Christmas cards, but their jolly appearance should not mislead us. The birds are extremely territorial and will engage in fierce fighting with rivals. Conversely if they see you gardening they are quite likely to get close in the hope that you will disturb some juicy grubs for them to eat.

That robins have a special place in the hearts of Britons is surely shown by the 16th century rhyme The North Wind Doth Blow.

"The north wind doth blow and we shall have snow,
And what will poor robin do then, poor thing?
He'll sit in a barn and keep himself warm,
And hide his head under his wing, poor thing."

You see, even back in the 16th century people worried about robins.

Quite a few songs about robins that I could have chosen, but in the end I went for Rockin' robin by Bobby Day. The song will be familiar to many because of the cover version by the Jackson 5.

• Question: Do you think the robin should be the national bird of Britain or should we choose something with big wings, talons and a hooky beak that can rip flesh? Let me know in the comments section  below.

* Picture of a robin by Poco a poco [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons