18 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Sage advice
With new book,
former Peninsula
writer Anne
Nixon reaches
out to younger
generations
By PATRICK WEBB
FOR COAST WEEKEND
A
BS Pollard/Gettyimages.com
An American robin snatches suet from a backyard feeder.
American
robin
By LYNETTE RAE
McADAMS
FOR COAST WEEKEND
Gettyimages.com
O
ne of the most
familiar and abun-
dant birds on our
continent and a univer-
sal symbol for the sea-
son of spring, the Ameri-
can robin ranges from the
northern climes of Can-
ada all the way to southern
Mexico. Light and quick
and in tune to the gathering
length of day, it runs, hops
and stops its way across
lawns and grassy meadows,
its famous red breast bob-
bing constantly for worms
beneath the surface of a sea
of green.
Sentimentally named
after the European robin —
an Old World Flycatcher
and biologically unre-
A robin nest with three eggs.
lated — the American spe-
cies of robin belongs to the
thrush family, specifically
the songbirds called “Turdi-
dae.” Like most songbirds,
robins have a specialized
dual voice box, the syrinx,
which allows the bird to
produce two notes at once,
thereby increasing the ease
of its repertoire.
Often the first to sing at
dawn and the last to quiet
down at night, male rob-
ins are the music makers,
offering a lighthearted mel-
ody composed of about
10 whistles in a row. Pho-
netically, its sound is most
often described as, “cheer-
ily, cheer up, cheer up,
cheerily, cheer up.” They
also employ a special call
that can sound like a laugh
or a quick chuckle.
Male robins use their
voices to proclaim territory,
announce predators and,
most importantly, attract a
mate. Birds pair off for the
breeding season with both
partners contributing to nest
building and the care of
chicks, though the bulk of
the domestic work falls to
the female.
One of the first breeds
to nest in the spring, if con-
ditions are right, a mother
robin can bear two, some-
times three sets of young
in a year, with each brood
of two to four birds taking
only one month to move
from fertile eggs, to fledg-
ling chicks, then back to
empty nest.
The signature color of
the American robin’s egg
— that unmistakable bright
blue-green — is achieved
when biliverdin, a bile pig-
ment, is added to the shell
in the final stage of egg pro-
duction; the deeper the hue,
the more likely the father
will be to take an inter-
est in his offspring. Since
1993, “robin egg blue” has
been an official color of the
Crayola crayon collection.
Culturally, robins have
figured prominently in
poetry and mythology for
hundreds of years, fre-
quently portrayed as guard-
ians (or thieves) of fire and
light. An age-old icon of
the vernal equinox, one
medieval Celtic legend pre-
dicts that the person who
sees the first spring robin
will have good luck and
prosperity throughout the
year. CW
nne Nixon has
published another
book.
The cover of ‘To Inspire
Her latest is targeted at
the Young: Life Goals,” by
young people, designed
former Surfside, Wash.,
to help them through the
resident Anne Nixon.
pitfalls in choosing their
life’s path.
She writes: “Take care,
in December with a book
and think of your life as
an adventure full of exper- titled “How I Survived:
imentation and
Alzheimer’s, Can-
cer, Polio.” It
learning, be it
chronicled her
professional or
experiences with
labor. It makes no
polio, two types of
difference.”
colon cancer and
Nixon is a
coping with her
84-year-old Peta-
late husband Don’s
luma, Calif., res-
Anne
Alzheimer’s. The
ident. Her new
Nixon
former medical
book is called “To
secretary wrote
Inspire the Young:
Life Goals,” written using that book to help others
her full name, Anne Eliza- cope with serious health
beth Nixon, and available
issues.
from Amazon.com.
Her new book focuses
Her motivation was
on choices for young peo-
ple. She seeks to encour-
simple.
age high school stu-
“I decided to write the
dents to make a plan and
book because so many
find ways to boost their
people I hear about think
self-esteem.
it’s a must to go to col-
lege, but either haven’t got
She writes: “With your
the money or don’t have
entire life before you,
any idea what they’d study what would you choose to
do with it — computer sci-
there,” she said. “Also,
ence, nurse, truck driver,
what would they do for a
job if they don’t go to col- scientist, carpenter, sales-
person, doctor, farmer,
lege, they wonder.”
television, teacher, musi-
Before their move to
cian, sports player, driver
California, the couple
— taxi, chauffeur?
spent 32 years in Surf-
side, living on 310th. Nix-
“The only thing that
on’s world travel adven-
matters is that you are
tures were published in the doing what interests you.
Chinook Observer some
Some people are at jobs
years ago.
they don’t like. Don’t let
She was in the news
that happen to you.” CW