A woman who has befriended a family of robins during her coffee breaks has revealed that they now land on her head, sing to her, and are familiar with her daily routine.
Fifty-eight-year-old Dawn Kiff began working as a cleansing operative in Shaldon, Devon, in southwest England, about nine months ago and has since spent a lot of time in and around the heavily forested Smuggler’s Tunnel area.
Over the past month, Ms. Kiff has become a well-known face in the village as she has befriended a family of robins by feeding them during her coffee breaks.
“I first noticed them back in October when the leaves were coming down, and I had to clean around the tunnel,” Ms. Kiff said. “There’s a lot of wildlife up there, but the robins were sort of following me around.
“It came at a really nice time, to be honest,” said Ms. Kiff, who was grieving the loss of her mother who had passed away a month prior.
Six weeks ago, the robins began directly interacting with her when she sat down for a coffee break before cleaning around the tunnel.
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“I had a coffee and a croissant—and this little bird that I’d called Rosy sat next to me,” Ms. Kiff said. “I thought she was very friendly, so I ripped off a bit of my croissant and put it down next to me, and it ate it.
“It just seemed to hang around, so I gave it a little bit more, and it ate that and then flew off.”
Clearly, aware of Ms. Kiff’s daily routine, the bird waited for her the next day.
“By the third day, it was landing on my boot, so I took my phone out to take a picture of it, and it just stood there,” Ms. Kiff said. “By the fourth day, I’d managed to get it on my hand—it was a really quick process, and I was shocked!”
Impressed, Ms. Kiff decided to stick to a routine, ensuring that she'd take breaks before and after she cleaned the tunnel.
“It just got friendlier and friendlier, until another bird turned up – and it was feeding it!” she said.
Ms. Kiff quickly realized that the bird she had been feeding was actually a male, and the bird he was feeding was his mate.
She named the pair Robby and Rosy. Amazed by their friendliness, Ms. Kiff began posting photos and videos of their interactions on Facebook, quickly attracting the attention of village residents.
“I started to take pictures of them because they were so tame, and I couldn’t believe it,“ she said. “I was showing some of the villagers, and they said I should put them on social media. The response I got was massive, I was really surprised.”
Ms. Kiff soon discovered that the little robins also had a chick with them and Robbie was feeding a chick in a nearby tree.
“For the last two weeks, I’ve had the whole family around me, and I’ve had some really magical times,” she said.
Recently, one of the robins surprised Ms. Kiff with an unexpected antic.
“[I]t was raining, and I had my hood up,“ she said. ”I carry seeds with me now, so I put a bit of seed on my head, and it landed on my head, grabbed it, and flew off to feed the chick.
“The next thing I know, I was walking, and it landed on my head and started singing to me!”
Robby and Rosie and their young family have now become a bit like celebrities in the village of Shaldon, and residents have even volunteered to look after the avian family while Ms. Kiff is on holiday.
For Ms. Kiff, the birds have become her favorite part of the workday, and when her Shaldon route ends next month, she plans to go back regularly just to visit Robby and Rosy.
“I look forward to seeing them every day,” she said.
