Sherry Chandler » The north wind doth blow
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
to keep himself warm
and hide his head under his wing
poor thing.
We have winter indeed this morning, ten degrees with blowing snow, but the jays and cardinals and goldfinches and the downy woodpeckers all seem to be out and flitting about the feeder.
No sign of any robin but I do think they’ve gone south now.
Harry Rutherford had a robin in the snow on his e-Christmas card, and I couldn’t help notice that it’s breast is much more orange looking than the robins we see here. Likewise with this Flickr set I turned up called Winter in Ireland.
Our American robin is a much duller fellow but he is considered a harbinger of spring. This photo is from the USGS.
And he does sort of say “Cheerio!” You can listen to his song here at All About Birds.
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4 Comments
1. Poppysmatus replies at 2nd January 2008, 1:27 pm :
Wikipedia sez the American version is still considered a thrush [Turdus migratorius] but the English one is now classified as a flycatcher [Erithacus rubecula]. The English fellow is smaller but much more aggressive, and has been known to kill other birds as well as rival males. Not only is he a cheery red for Christmas but [I suppose] he was celebrated by the Celts as the Solstice victor over his rival/tanist the wren. Robert Graves would have us believe so. Anyway, 26 Dec. is hunt the wren/St. Stephen’s day in several Celtic lands, although a mock-wren has been substituted for the wee corpse in auld lang syne–but the Scots apparently never hunted their wrens.
2. sherry replies at 2nd January 2008, 4:26 pm :
Ah, Poppysmatus, so our American robin is migratory in his very name. And turdus is thrush. And so his name indicates him to be a migratory thrush. Neat.
3. Harry replies at 2nd January 2008, 5:14 pm :
“Our American robin is a much duller fellow but he is considered a harbinger of spring.”
I think the American version is rather attractive. Our robin is completely associated with Christmas. In fact I once pointed out a robin to a friend and she said she didn’t know we had them in the summer.
4. sherry replies at 2nd January 2008, 5:59 pm :
The Northern Cardinal (cardinalis cardinalis) is the Christmas bird in the U.S., Harry. He is also, according to All About Birds, state bird for seven eastern U.S. states. Kentucky is one of them.
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