Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Robins reign as our dearest bird
EMBLEM
The coronation of the much-loved robin redbreast as Britain’s national bird would be the crowning glory of King Charles III’s ascension to the throne.
Amid the pomp and splendour of yesterday’s spectacular pageantry, one tiny little detail may have been missed by the great and the good as they filed into Westminster Abbey.
Perched atop of the exquisitely decorated invitations, with their chivalric homage to the wonders of British nature, a robin stood proud in all its majestic glory.
Artist Andrew Jamieson portrayed the much-loved bird between the crests of Charles and Camilla, as part of an exquisite display of native wildflowers and pollinating insects that define the British countryside. Many nature lovers will be hoping the robin’s cameo role in the Coronation ceremony ensures its rightful recognition as our national bird.
Almost eight years after tens of thousands voted for the robin to be given this title, the powers that be have yet to adopt it as an
They are as much a symbol of our garden as the rose and daffodil
official emblem.
No bird symbolises the British character quite like the friendly, loyal and endearing character that remains uncompromising and pugnacious to anything that dares threaten its domain.
Robins are the avian embodiment of any British hero you care to mention.
Little wonder that the most celebrated legendary figure of them all – the scourge of the Sheriff of Nottingham and the leader of Sherwood Forest’s Merry Men – was called Robin.
Our greatest literary figures have feted the robin in many of their works too.
Shakespeare refers to the bird as the “ruddock” and Wordsworth mentions them no less than 14 times in his poetry.
Such celebration in verse emphasises the robin’s relationship with the British people. In Europe, the bird lives in forests, but here it is as much a feature of the garden as the rose, daffodil and pansy.
Robins were recorded by 85 percent of participants in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch in January. What better reason for it to be crowned Britain’s national bird?