@vignouse@helenhall He has had these misplaced feathers on his back since at least last autumn.
I did wonder if he was being attacked, as yes they are very territorial. They can be very aggressive whilst defending their patch. There are numerous reports of them killing challengers.
However, those feathers make it easy to spot him from the other Robins in the garden, and watch what he’s up to.
He has a partner, and they are both very tame and confiding.
Watching his behaviour, I tend to think he’s the boss in the garden, but puts a lot of time into chasing off other Robins. I think with some feathers missing from near his face he is battle scarred, but still the boss.
I think my large garden would normally only hold one pair, but plenty of cover, and ample food in various places make it a des res, which is hard to defend from all intruders.
There are at least two pairs, Scruff and partner, and Flash ( with the white wing bars ), and his partner.
But there could be more as those two females are impossible to tell apart, apart from noting which male they are next to.
Maybe Scruff is fighting loads of trespassers off !!
If I had more time, it would make a very interesting study to try and figure out the other players and their place in the Robin hierarchy.
I have seen similar unusual back feathers on Blackbirds and House Sparrows in the garden, and I think Rosie Kind @rosiekind posted a image of a Magpie recently with messed up feathers.
@markp Thanks for the fulsome reply Mark. We've had as many as two pairs and a sole male coexisting in our half-acre garden but, currently, we have just the one pair
March 27th, 2021
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I did wonder if he was being attacked, as yes they are very territorial. They can be very aggressive whilst defending their patch. There are numerous reports of them killing challengers.
However, those feathers make it easy to spot him from the other Robins in the garden, and watch what he’s up to.
He has a partner, and they are both very tame and confiding.
Watching his behaviour, I tend to think he’s the boss in the garden, but puts a lot of time into chasing off other Robins. I think with some feathers missing from near his face he is battle scarred, but still the boss.
I think my large garden would normally only hold one pair, but plenty of cover, and ample food in various places make it a des res, which is hard to defend from all intruders.
There are at least two pairs, Scruff and partner, and Flash ( with the white wing bars ), and his partner.
But there could be more as those two females are impossible to tell apart, apart from noting which male they are next to.
Maybe Scruff is fighting loads of trespassers off !!
If I had more time, it would make a very interesting study to try and figure out the other players and their place in the Robin hierarchy.
I have seen similar unusual back feathers on Blackbirds and House Sparrows in the garden, and I think Rosie Kind @rosiekind posted a image of a Magpie recently with messed up feathers.