SongBird Survival

Celebrate National Robin Day on 21^st December

Make a promise to help songbirds survive winter in your garden this winter.

This National Robin Day show your love and support of songbirds. Pledge with Charity SongBird Survival to do one small thing to help our feathered friends survive the harsh winter months.

At this time of year, even the UK’s favourite bird and a festive icon, the robin, struggles like other songbirds. Temperatures drop and natural food supplies wane.

One fun way to help is to stir up a seed cake for our garden birds. SongBird Survival have a thrifty recipe for one cake that could feed a pair of robins in your garden for 24 days. The treat will cost about 26p per cake. It takes around 10-15 minutes to make. You can use an empty yoghurt pot as a ready-made container.

SongBird Survival will be sharing top tips throughout December to help you encourage more beautiful songbirds to your garden. You can do this by providing the right food, water and shelter. You can even help without access to a garden. Even a small dish of water on a windowsill can help a thirsty bird this winter. You can also share your best photos of robins and songbirds you have spotted on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook through #NationalRobinDay.

Sue Morgan, Chief Executive of SongBird Survival said: “National Robin Day is a chance to celebrate the comfort and joy that songbirds bring us in the festive season. It also helps us raise awareness that our beautiful native wildlife, and our dawn chorus, is under threat. This December, join us to take one simple action at home that could make a big difference”.

Birds also play a critical part of the ecosystem in the UK. Birds help disperse seeds and recycle nutrients.

You can pledge to take part in National Robin Day at: https://www.songbird-survival.org.uk/campaign/national-robin-day You’ll receive emails with tailored tips to help you make a difference in December. You can also find downloadable ‘How to guides’ including how to make a seed cake.

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SongBird Survival will share tips, advice and photos throughout December on social media with #NationalRobinDay at:

https://www.facebook.com/NationalRobin/

https://www.instagram.com/songbirdsurvival/

https://twitter.com/NationalRobin

In the 1960s, in a vote publicised by The Times, the robin was adopted as the unofficial national bird of the United Kingdom. In 2015, the robin was again voted Britain's national bird in a poll organised by birdwatcher David Lindo. More than 224,000 people cast their ballot in the National Bird Vote with robin taking 34%.

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This is the seventh year SongBird Survival have run National Robin Day.

Our fantastic team at the University of Sussex have published a new research paper in the journal Science of the Total Environment, find that paper here.

The paper “Habitat quality, urbanisation & pesticides influence bird abundance and richness in gardens” investigated bird-friendly features in domestic gardens and looks at the use of pesticides in gardening and the effects these have on our common garden songbirds.

Cannelle Tassin de Montaigu, the lead author, has also featured her research in our blog, check that out for more information.