Features
How do robins feature in folklore and superstition? What did ornithologist David Lack discover about our red-breasted friend? Find out here.
Folklore and Superstition
A rich folklore surrounds the robin, which has always been seen as a friend to people, and an emblem of charity and piety. So William Shakespeare described the "ruddock with charitable bill" while William Wordsworth asked, "Art thou the bird whom Man loves best/The pious bird with the scarlet breast/Our little English Robin?"
David Lack's "The Life Of The Robin"
Much of what we know about robins is thanks to an amateur ornithologist called David Lack (1911-1973). In the 1930s, Lack, a school teacher in Dartington, South Devon, devoted his spare time to observing local robins. His study led to a classic work of natural history, "The Life Of The Robin", published in 1943.
Ten Things…
Which Rugby League team is known as the Robins? And which favourite children's film and book do the birds feature in? Give yourself a nice big, red tick for the ones you get right!
