21 December: National Robin Day

Today is National Robin Day. The robin, as well as being a popular subject for Christmas cards, is Britain's national bird. Here are 10 things you might not know about them.

1. They are members of the thrush family and so are related to Nightingales and Blackbirds. In fact, they're sometimes mistaken for nightingales, because they often sing at night, usually under artificial lights. If you're awake for the dawn chorus, one of the first birds you'll hear is probably a robin.
2. There are a couple of legends that tell the story of how the robin got his red breast. One is that a robin sang to Jesus on the cross to comfort Him, and the red breast is from drops of His Blood. Another says the robin used to carry water to souls in purgatory and their breasts were scorched by the flames.
3. Why Christmas, though? Probably because postmen in Victorian times wore red uniforms and were nicknamed "robins" or "redbreasts" and so the robin became a symbol of Christmas greetings.
4. Sports teams with red as a predominant home colour sometimes use "the Robins" as a nickname. As well as the colour, it's thought they choose this little bird as an emblem to represent agility and darting around the field. Crewe Alexandra, Cheltenham Town, Bristol City and Swindon Town are examples of football clubs using the nickname.
5. Robins are fiercely territorial and will fight to the death to defend their patch against other robins. In winter, both male and female robins hold their own territory and sing the same song. In Britain, the robin's territory is usually not far from where it was hatched, although some robins from Scandinavia migrate Mediterranean for the winter.
6. They tend not to live very long. There's a massive mortality rate during their first year of life, making the average lifespan just over one year - however, if they survive their first year they can live as long as eight years, and according to Wikipedia there has been a robin which lived for 19 years. The most frequent cause of death is being killed by a Cat, followed by getting killed in a dispute over territory. At least they no longer run the risk, as they did in Victorian times, of being turned into a lady's hat as robin skins were popular adornments for hats back then.
7. It's possible, though quite difficult, to recognise individual robins by their breast patterns, as each one is unique.
8. Robins will eat anything - fruit, insects, Spiders - even Cheese - but their favourite food is mealworms.
9. When mating, a male robin will bond with a female by bringing her food and feeding her, which can be mistaken for an adult bird feeding a chick. This is important as this is what the male will need to do when the female is incubating her eggs, and once they hatch, both parents share the task of feeding the chicks. So the female will want to be sure she's picked a mate who is good at finding food. Robins can raise as many as five broods in a breeding season with the male taking full responsibility for feeding the previous brood of chicks while the female incubates a new set of eggs.
10. Both male and female robins have red breasts. The red breast, particularly in the male, has evolved to help the bird defend its territory. This is probably why young robins don't get red breasts until after their first moult. A territorial scrap will start with the birds singing to each other, and then jockeying for positions on branches to best show off their red breasts to each other.

A Christmas Novella

A Very Variant Christmas

Last year, Jade and Gloria were embroiled in a bitter conflict to win back their throne and their ancestral home. This year, Queen Jade and Princess Gloria want to host the biggest and best Christmas party ever in their palace. They invite all their friends to come and bring guests. Not even the birth of Jade's heir just before Christmas will stop them.

The guest list includes most of Britain's complement of super-powered crime-fighters, their families and friends. What could possibly go wrong?

Gatecrashers, unexpected arrivals, exploding Christmas crackers and a kidnapping, for starters.

Far away in space, the Constellations, a cosmic peacekeeping force, have suffered a tragic loss. They need to recruit a new member to replace their dead colleague. The two top candidates are both at Jade and Gloria's party. The arrival of the recruitment delegation on Christmas Eve is a surprise for everyone; but their visit means one guest now faces a life-changing decision.

Meanwhile, an alliance of the enemies of various guests at the party has infiltrated the palace; they hide in the dungeon, plotting how best to get rid of the crime-fighters and the royal family once and for all. Problem is, they all have their own agendas and differences of opinion on how to achieve their aims.

Not to mention that this year, the ghosts who walk the corridors of the palace on Christmas Eve will be as surprised by the living as the living are by them.

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