Posted on 12/22/2008 8:21:58 AM PST by BGHater
A RARE and beautiful snowy white robin has been delighting Christmas revellers with its own winter wonderland performance.
Families have been turning out to watch the white robin – believed to be the only one of its kind in Britain – as it flits among cherry trees and pours out a seasonal song.
Albino robins are almost unheard of in the wild. Their glistening plumage makes them easy targets for predators such as sparrowhawks.
Yet Snowflake the Robin has been merrily bob-bob-bobbing on Hampstead Heath this winter and has become something of a celebrity.
Delighted observers have been calling the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to report their sightings and also asking for more information about the rare visitor.
Tim Webb of the RSPB in London said: “Robins are quite possibly our most loved native birds. They are usually quite tame and this one has the added ‘ahh’ factor of being almost all white.
“It’s also got a great sense of timing, popping-up just at the right moment to wish us all a happy Christmas.
“So if you happen to be on the Heath and spot it, savour the moment.
“You’d have to be a very lucky person to ever see another live white robin in the wild. This is a unique and magical experience.”
The last known white robin was a bird photographed in Dorset in 2007, although that bird was technically “leucistic” – meaning its feathers were a milky colour rather than white.
Snowflake, however, has a pure white head, back and body because it has a rare condition known as hypomelanism.
Even the Snowflake’s signature red breast has disappeared under a shock of white feathers but that has not stopped the chirpy bird from pouring out its winter song from a cherry tree.
The fact that feisty robins sing throughout the winter to defend their territories is one of the reasons they have become associated with Christmas.
Both male and females have a beautiful jangling seasonal song and during Charles II’s reign one bird regularly entered Canterbury Cathedral to pour out its repertoire, apparently shaming the Puritans who preferred their Christmases to be subdued affairs.
Some religious writers have suggested that the robin’s association with Christmas comes from the story that the bird was given its redbreast because it pulled the thorns from Jesus Christ’s bleeding forehead as he died on the Cross.
Pioneering robin scholar David Lack discovered much about the way the bird was embedded in our festive traditions when he was researching his classic natural history work, the Life of the Robin.
He noticed that robins had first begun appearing on Christmas mail when the custom of sending greeting cards became popular in the 1860s.
In early designs, robins were often depicted bearing envelopes in their bills, and Lack suggested the association was due to the bright red coats worn by 19th Century postmen who were to become known as Robins.
Celebrated Victorian author Anthony Trollope, himself a post-office employee, mentions the fact in his novel Framley Parsonage, when he wrote the line: “Come in, Robin postman and warm theeself a while.”
The robin, with its habit of following gardeners to snatch worms and grubs, has endeared itself so much to the British that it was voted our national bird during a poll in 1960, although the result has never been officially recognised by the Government.
With its cheeky but feisty nature, it has also become popular with football clubs and Swindon, Bristol City and Cheltenham Town all have the same “Robins” nickname because they red on their shirts.
The birds pour forth their souls in notes,
of rapture from a thousand throats
William Wordsworth
Lovely
Beautiful plumage!
Animated Christmas e-cards by English artist Jacquie Lawson that feature robins:
http://www.jacquielawson.com/preview.asp?cont=1&hdn=0&pv=3130907
http://www.jacquielawson.com/preview.asp?cont=1&hdn=0&pv=3119127
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