January can feel like a cold and grey month so it is very cheering to see a flash of colour and hear a little birdsong. During the winter most birds do not sing, instead making simple calls, one or two syllables which are contact calls, allowing them to keep in touch with others within a flock, whilst they move around, foraging for food. Longer and more melodic songs are generally heard in spring when male birds are using song to communicate that they are present and are holding a breeding territory. These territories will contain nesting places such as trees or shrubs as well as sources of food and male birds proclaim this by song, deterring rivals and attracting females. The Robin however has a proper winter song as it holds a territory over the winter. Robins are not in pairs during the winter so both males and females sing and hold separate territories. These territories are giving them winter shelter and food and they will defend them fiercely, flying at intruders as well as singing.
In winter many Robins migrate from further north into the UK, flying in from Scandinavia, Russia, Poland and elsewhere. This also explains why we seem to see more Robins in the winter as our own summer Robins remain here all year round so numbers increase. The Robin’s song is tuneful and a little melancholy but the reality of Robin life is harsher with an average lifespan of only 9 months. Many do not survive the winter so holding and defending a territory containing good sources food and shelter is vital. The combination of a churchyard with mature, sheltering trees, plentiful berries, seeds and insects as well as soil invertebrates such as worms make them attractive to Robins. Churchyards tend to be rich in insect and other invertebrate life as no chemicals are used within them and the soils have been developing over decades or centuries, full of life. Churchyards are also usually surrounded by gardens so natural food may well be being topped up with mealworms, bird seed and fat balls too.
Why not look for Robins in your local churchyard or cemetery and listen for their winter song, you might like to put up some open-fronted nest boxes for them too, on churchyard trees and within gardens as well. Please let us know if you see or hear a Robin in your churchyard, use the iNaturalist app and photograph it if it will stay still long enough or else record its song, a biological record can be made either way.
All the best,
Diocesan Churchyard Environmental Advisor
www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk - individuals and groups in the diocese receive 20% members discount on all CfGA materials. Use the discount code diomem22