British Robin - 1949 status

Erithacus rubecula melophilus

Common resident.  To the islands a winter visitor and autumn passage migrant.  Bred Skokholm, 1939-40.  Ringed Robins return to winter on Skokholm.

R.M.Lockley, G.C.S.Ingram, H.M.Salmon, 1949, The Birds of Pembrokeshire, The West Wales Field Society

Robin - 2003-07

Voted national bird of Britain, depicted on Christmas cards, and being conspicuous in gardens, Robins are recognised by most people. Widespread in Pembrokeshire they are found in most habitats, being absent only from the tops of the Preseli Hills, dense conifer plantations and the offshore islands, save for Caldey. However, they have bred from time to time at Skokholm and Skomer, and during the 2003-07 survey at Ramsey. Nests are placed on the ground, in trees, bushes, nest boxes and other man - made objects, they are versatile birds.

When the county breeding population estimate was made at the end of the 1984-88 survey, the only local census results available came from a few nature reserves, which were mostly wooded. On this basis an average density of 100 pairs per tetrad was applied to the distribution plot, suggesting a total of 43,000 pairs in Pembrokeshire. The National Atlas of 1968–72, using extensive BTO Common Bird Census and other census data, took an average of 60 pairs per tetrad. However the 1988-91 National Atlas includes an abundance map which showed Pembrokeshire contained areas of maximum and medium densities, suggesting a higher figure locally than the average UK value, probably about 20% higher at just over 70 per tetrad. Since then the BBS has indicated a 7% increase in Wales during the period 1994 – 2007. Applying these approximations to the 2003-07 survey results gives an estimate of about 40,000 pairs breeding in Pembrokeshire.

Graham Rees

 

Fieldwork 2003-07 (based on 490 tetrads)

Red = breeding confirmed = 284

Orange = breeding probable = 155

Yellow = breeding possible = 8

Total tetrads in which registered = 447 (91.2%)

Robin - 1994

Breeding resident

Mathew (1894) knew this bird as the Redbreast, and described it as a common resident, a view echoed by Lockleyetal. (1949). Today the Robin is a widespread breeding bird in Pembrokeshire, absent only from the mountain tops and the offshore islands other than Caldey, though they have occasionally bred on Ramsey, Skomer and Skokholm. At an estimated average density of 100 pairs per tetrad the total breeding population is probably about 43,000 pairs.

There is an influx from mid-August which is not entirely due to dispersal on the part of local breedingbirds, and these birds take up territories on headlands and islands where they were absent during the nesting season. A Robin ringed on the Calf of Man in April 1962 was recovered at Goodwick in January 1963, another ringed on Skokholm in April 1968 was recovered in France in December 1970 and others from Grampian, Belgium and Estonia have been recovered in Pembrokeshire in the autumn. They have reached most of the isolated islets, including Grassholm and the Smalls, during spring and autumn and have been recorded at the lantern of the Smalls lighthouse at night in March, May and September.

Fieldwork 1984-88 (based on 478 tetrads)

Red = breeding confirmed = 295

Orange = breeding probable = 123

Yellow = breeding possible = 16

Total tetrads in which registered = 434 (90.8%)

Donovan J.W. & Rees G.H (1994), Birds of Pembrokeshire

Robin - 1970s breeding

Red = breeding confirmed

Orange = breeding probable

Yellow = breeding possible

Robin - 1980s winter atlas

The BTO winter atlas showed that Robins were present in most 10km squares during the winters of 1981-82, 1982-82 and 1983-84.

The darker the colour, the higher the relative total count for each 10km square.  The darkest blue represents over 36 birds.

However, it should be noted that the figures show a high correlation with the number of recording cards returned (therefore related to recording effort) for each 10km square. 

Graham Rees 

Robin - 1894

Species account from M Mathew, 1894, "The Birds of Pembrokeshire and its islands"

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