What if seeing a robin were a rare event? We would be rushing to get binoculars and dragging people to look at the incredible bird with its gorgeous red breast. Birders would reach for their life lists. But robins are common and widespread, the most abundant of the thrushes. Taking them for granted, we fail to see how much we don't know about their importance in the ecosystem. We appreciate the robin primarily as an antidepressant for human beings. Some of the first songbirds to make an appearance at the end of winter, they are, of course, the inspiration for "There'll be no more sobbin'" when "the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin' along," from the popular song I of the 1920s. On spring and summer days, robins are among the first to sing out at dawn. They're among the earliest North American bird species to make nests and lay eggs. A female has the same unmistakable red breast as a male; hers is only a little smaller and duller than that of the male. Even robin body language is appealing. They do the distinctive running (from which came "bob, bob, bobbin'") along a lawn, and then stopping, cocking a head as if listening for the earthworms. (They're probably looking, turning an eye toward the ground, rather than listening.)
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