People often talk about “their” birds. “My Robins have been coming back for ten years now”. “My Blackbirds are here again”. But are these really the same individuals that keep turning up year after year, possibly nesting in much the same places?
Well, the sad fact is that most small song birds don’t last very long. Probably two or three years is an average lifespan. Some individuals do live much longer, but the truth is that it would, for example, be pretty amazing for your Robin to survive a decade.
What does happen, of course, is that subsequent generations appreciate the same attractive habitat in your garden, and therefore keep using it to either breed or feed. Which is almost more satisfying: they are continuing a family tradition, encouraged by you.
Written by Bill Oddie
