Robin

A tuneful natural and cultural history of this globally renowned songbird.

The robin is a small bird with a distinctive ruddy breast, at once a British national treasure and a bird with a global reputation. In this superbly illustrated account, Helen F. Wilson looks at many aspects of the cherished robin, from its status as a harbinger of seasonal change and, in the United Kingdom, an icon of Christmas, to its place in fairy tales, environmental campaigns, and scientific discovery. In moving between cultural and natural histories, Robin asks wide-ranging questions, such as how did the robin's name travel the world? Why is the robin so melancholy? Who was Cock Robin? And how has the history of the color red shaped the robin's ambivalent associations and unusual origin stories?

Author: Helen F. Wilson
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Published: 11/23/2022
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.79lbs
Size: 7.40h x 5.35w x 0.55d
ISBN13: 9781789146264
ISBN10: 1789146267
BISAC Categories:
- Nature | Animals | Birds
- Science | Natural History
- Nature | Birdwatching Guides

About the Author
Helen F. Wilson is an associate professor of human geography at Durham University. She has published widely within social and cultural geography and lives in Newcastle Upon Tyne.