Christmas story about the Red Robin for BBC by Dominik Eulberg

The Red Robin

The Red Robin is a real role model!
He is not shy and can be observed from close proximity.
You just have to dig over some earth and the Robin will be already there, bouncing full of joy, looking for something to eat in the freshly dug up earth.
There is barely a species more known to us and more popular.
This is due to its orange-red breast, gorge and forehead which gives it a cute appearance, as well as the big dark beady eyes that make it look neat.
Exquisite is also it’s lugubrious and melancholic singing, which the cute bird, a true early riser, exercises to perfection in the early hours of the break of dawn.
Listening to the singing one realises it’s association to artistic singing of birds such as the nightingale and the song thrush.
The Red Robin belongs to the few bird species, in our latitudes...  who's effervescing mellifluous singing... you can enjoy also on mild winter days.
Because, there are Red Robin’s who pack their suitcases in autumn in favour of the sunny south and others that hold out gallantly the cold winter days in our domestic regions .
In most cases it is the male bird that stays and survives the cold winter.
For the couch potatoes it is easier to win the favour of the female, than for the males who have overwintered in the south, because they have already found their own district.
For Celtic and Germanic tribes the Red Robin was the bringer forth of the sun.
The people believed that where the Red Robin nested their house and farm were protected.
It was considered a sacrilege if someone destroyed the nest of a Red Robin.
Besides the believe prevailed that a nest of a Red Robin brought peace to a house and had couples live in peace.
In legends about Jesus Christ the bird played an essential role, as a pure bird.
Records say that when Jesus was full of pain, nailed to the cross, in a far distance he saw in the woods a small single coloured bird. It shed bitter tears when it saw the spiny thorns penetrating Jesus forehead and flew to the cross to loosen up one thorn of the crown. As a consequence its breast was sprinkled with a drop of blood.
The English records talk about a similar situation slightly different when describes that the Red Robin was singing to the crucified Jesus so that he could endure the suffering. In the process of it the bird was marked with he blood of his wounds.
In addition to that the Red Robin is associated in Great Britain much stronger with Christmas as such.
Traditional fairytales for children like“ Babes in the Wood“ account the bird covering the dead bodies of children.
The Red Robin was the most popular bird in England in the early 60ies according to THE TIMES.
The English government nevertheless has refrained from recognising it as the official national English bird.
For some years the Red Robin was the official logo of the Royal Society for the protection of birds.
The English football club Bristol City and Swindon Town were nickname „the robins“ deriving from their colour of their jerseys.