Do we have robin red breast in Australia?

Petroica boodangPetroicidae

While several species of Australian robins feature reddish feathering on their breasts, the plumage of the Scarlet Robin is particularly vivid. This feature captured the attention of the Indigenous Noongar people of south-western Australia, who considered the red coloration of the robin’s breast to have been stained by blood. The robin is said to have been punched on the nose (or beak) by a pugnacious Willie Wagtail, causing it to bleed. When the blood trickled down from the wounded beak, it is said to have discoloured the robin’s breast.

Identification

Description

The Scarlet Robin is a medium-sized robin, with a plump and compact appearance. Males have a black head, neck and upperparts with a conspicuous white patch above the bill (frontal patch). The breast is scarlet red and the lower underparts are white. The wings are barred white and the outer tail is also white. Females differ markedly from males, being brown above with a whitish frontal patch and an orange-red breast, brown wings and white underparts. Young birds resemble females but are streaked white above, tinged buff on the wings and are mottled dark-brown on the breast and sides of the body. The Norfolk Island subspecies of the Scarlet Robin differs from mainland birds, with the males having less white in the wings and tail and a larger red breast-patch while the females tend to be browner and also have less white in the wings and tail.

Similar Species

The Scarlet Robin may be confused with other 'red' robins such as the Flame (P. phoenicea) and the Red-capped (P. goodenovii). It can be distinguished from these species by the large white patch above the bill in both the male and female (this patch is absent in the Red-capped Robin and smaller in the male Flame Robin). Female Scarlet Robins also tend to have a much redder chest than females of other robin species.

Location

Distribution

The Scarlet Robin is found in south-eastern and south-western Australia, as well as on Norfolk Island. In Australia, it is found south of latitude 25°S, from south-eastern Queensland along the coast of New South Wales (and inland to western slopes of Great Dividing Range) to Victoria and Tasmania, and west to Eyre Peninsula, South Australia; it is also found in south-west Western Australia. It is also widely distributed in the south-western Pacific from Bougainville and the Solomon Islands to Vanuatu, Fiji and Western Samoa.

Habitat

The Scarlet Robin lives in open forests and woodlands in Australia, while it prefers rainforest habitats on Norfolk Island. During winter, it will visit more open habitats such as grasslands and will be seen in farmland and urban parks and gardens at this time.

Behaviour

Feeding

The Scarlet Robin feeds mainly on insects and forages on or near the ground. It will sit on a perch and fly down to catch prey. Sometimes forages in mixed flocks with other small insect-eating birds, such as Flame and Hooded Robins, Weebills, Grey Fantails and thornbills.

Breeding

Scarlet Robins form permanent monogamous pairs that maintain territories year round. The male advertises and defends the territory by singing from high, prominent perches. During the breeding season, the female selects a suitable, well-hidden nest site in a tree fork and builds a compact open cup nest (individuals of this species have also been reported making a nest on part of a building, such as a gutter). Nest materials include bark, grass, twigs and other plant materials; the nest is bound with spider web, lined with animal fibres or plant-down and camoflaged with moss or lichen. The female incubates the eggs while the male feeds her. Both sexes feed the nestlings, and will continue to feed the young for some time once fledged.

Conservation Status

Federal

Secure

NSW

Vulnerable

NT

Secure

QLD

Secure

SA

Rare

TAS

Present

VIC

Secure

WA

Secure

Petroica goodenoviiPetroicidae

Often tame, confiding and curious, the Red-capped Robin is regularly recorded as part of mixed-species feeding-flocks, often joining with other small insectivorous species, especially with various species of thornbills. Foraging Red-capped Robins usually pounce onto their prey on the ground from an elevated perch, such as a low branch or a stump. The species has also been recorded raking the leaf litter with its feet, regularly stopping and holding its head cocked to one side, presumably to detect any prey it has disturbed.

Identification

Description

The male Red-capped Robin is black above and white below with a distinctive scarlet-red cap, white shoulders, and a red breast that contrasts strongly with a black throat. The black wing is barred white and the tail is black with white edges. Females are quite different in appearance: grey-brown above and off-white below, with a reddish cap, brown-black wings barred buff to white, and some have faint red on the breast. Young birds are similar to females but are streaked white above, have an pale buff wing bar and their breast and sides are streaked or mottled dark-brown.

Similar Species

The Red-capped Robin is the smallest red robin. It can be distinguished from other red robins by the unique red cap in the male, and by the dull red cap in the female. Males are similar to the Crimson Chat, Epthianura tricolor, but this species has a white throat, a white eye, is not as plump and lacks the white wing streak.

Location

Distribution

The Red-capped Robin is found from Queensland (rarely above latitude 20°S), through New South Wales, mainly west of the Great Dividing Range, to Victoria and South Australia. Also found in Western Australia in inland regions north to the Pilbara region, rarely being seen on south coast or far south-west. An isolated population occurs on Rottnest Island. Widespread in Northern Territory south of latitude 20°S. The Red-capped Robin will visit areas along the east coast during droughts.

Habitat

The Red-capped Robin is found in most inland habitats that have tall trees or shrubs, such as eucalypt, acacia and cypress pine woodlands. It is mainly found in the arid and semi-arid zones, south of the Tropics, with some extension into coastal regions. The species is seen on farms with scattered trees, as well as vineyards and orchards. It is only occasionally reported in gardens.

Behaviour

Feeding

The Red-capped Robin feeds on insects and other invertebrates. It forages on the ground or in low vegetation, and will often perch on a stump or fallen branch, darting down to take insects from the ground. Can be seen in mixed feeding flocks with other small insect-eating birds such as Willie Wagtails, Rufous Whistlers and Black-faced Woodswallows.

Breeding

Red-capped Robins breed in pairs within a breeding territory established and defended by the male. The male sings from perches around the boundary of the territory to deter other Red-capped Robins and also other robin species, such as the Scarlet Robin, P. multicolor. The female chooses a nest site in a tree-fork and builds an open, cup-shaped nest of bark, grass, and rootlets, bound together with spider web, lined with soft materials and often camoflaged with lichen, bark and mosses. The male feeds the female during nest-building and incubation. The female incubates the eggs alone and both sexes feed the young. Once the young have fledged, they may remain in their parents' territories for up to one and a half months before dispersing. Nests may be parasitised by cuckoos. Predators of nestlings include the Grey Shrike-thrush, Colluricincla harmonica, and the Grey Butcherbird, Craticus torquatus.

Research by the Australian Museum (Major et al., 1999)  has shown that male Red-capped Robin density is much lower in small, linear bushland remnants than in large non-linear remnants. The small remnants represented a higher risk of predation, making them much less suitable as breeding habitat.

Conservation Status

Federal

Secure

NSW

Secure

NT

Secure

QLD

Secure

SA

Secure

TAS

Not present

VIC

Secure

WA

Secure

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