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What does a red breast mean to a robin? A red breast is not just the way a human can recognise a robin when he comes a calling or when it sits on a spade or on a Christmas card. The red breast is not just a bit of chance colouration, no, the red breast is the core of the robin’s being. The red breast is the love, the honour and the glory of a robin.

A robin is conspicuous because of its red breast. Have you noticed that a robin positively flaunts it? It is as if he’s telling the world: "For God’s sake, I’m a robin.”

It’s quite clear then that the red breast doesn’t just have a meaning for a birdwatcher it has a profound meaning for the bird, but he’s not talking to birdwatchers, he’s talking to robins. The red breast is how robins recognise each other for love and for war. Both sexes have a red breast. Both flaunt it. It can be a warning, it can be a come on.

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Expertise go hang. Birds give humans a great deal of pleasure in life

Simon Barnes

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Background

• The Robin

• The Blackbird

• The Wren

• The Chaffinch

• The Thrush

Related Links

• A Bad Birdwatcher's Companion

Its meaning is both simple and complex and at its heart is the statement: I’m a robin, deal with it.

The CD of A Bad Birdwatcher's Companion by Simon Barnes is available at a special Times Online discounted rate from Naxos AudioBooks. The slideshows to accompany extracts from the audiobook's first five chapters have been created by Times Online with pictures supplied by the RSPB.

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