No More Mr. Nice Guy

Despite the good press robins have been receiving on this blog I have recently noticed distinctly hostile and aggressive behavior. It reminds me that beneath that romantic springtime nesting and mating is a fierce competition for mates and territory. I've lately seen some genuinely vicious aerial combats and feathery fisticuffs between robins. There is a definite martial edge to their cheeping and peeping. And on the ground the normally mild-mannered robin adopts a stance that clearly says, "You want a piece of me?"