AUSTRALIAN ROBINS: Petroicidae

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Australian robins are small, plump birds with large heads and short tails. They have long legs and strong feet, which allow the birds to have an upright stance. They have small bills with bristles on them, which helps them catch insects. Most of them have short tails, but the scrub robins have longer ones to help them balance as they feed on the ground. The scrub robin is also the only species that nests and forages, searches for food, on the ground.

The coloring of Australian robins differs among species. Some are all black or black with distinctive white stripes on their lower backs. Others are gray with yellow or red undersides. Still others have grayish brown backs and whitish undersides.

GEOGRAPHIC RANGE

Australian robins can be found in India, Southeast Asia, Micronesia, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Australia.

HABITAT

Most Australian robins live in forests and woodlands, but scrub robins live in semi-arid scrub, dry areas with short trees and shrubs. Some species live in mangroves and eucalyptus (yoo-kah-LIP-tus) forests. Some Australian robins can be found nesting in trees and bushes along cultivated fields.

DIET

Australian robins eat insects, spiders, earthworms, and sometimes even leeches, crabs, and mollusks.

BEHAVIOR AND REPRODUCTION

Australian robins live with a mate or in small family groups. They usually stay within their territories and do not migrate. They may move to a different altitude, which is usually not far away. Their territories can be as small as 1 acre (0.5 hectare) or as large as 10 acres (4 hectares).

The songs of this family are composed of whistling or piping notes. These birds give harsh alarm calls when they feel threatened.

Most Australian robins feed by diving from a perch to grab food they spot on the ground. Scrub robins forage on the ground.

Generally, this species mates for life. Some species allow helpers to raise the young with them. The female builds a cup-shaped nest in the fork of a tree branch. Bark or lichen (LIE-ken) is often placed over the top of the nest in order to hide it from predators, animals that hunt them for food. The female lays one to three eggs and incubates them, or sits on them until they hatch, for fifteen to nineteen days, depending on the species. The male of some species will feed the female while she incubates the eggs. The young are fed by the parents for nine to fourteen days; this also varies among species.

AUSTRALIAN ROBINS AND PEOPLE

Their bright colors and pleasant songs make them popular among bird watchers.

FAMILY HISTORY

Australian robins are not related to the robins of the New World, the Western Hemisphere, which are actually thrushes. Though they resemble some Old World flycatchers due to similar adaptations to the environment, they are not related to this family either, nor do they behave like them. They do not normally find their food while they are flying. An ancient family, Australian robins are more closely related to Australian lyrebirds and honeyeaters.

CONSERVATION STATUS

One species is Endangered, facing a very high risk of extinction, or dying out, in the wild. Two subspecies are Vulnerable, facing a high risk of extinction in the wild, and one subspecies is Near Threatened, in danger of becoming threatened with extinction. Many species have experienced declining population due to habitat loss because of extreme clearing of land for agricultural use. Australian robins are also vulnerable to larger birds that prey on them.

JACKY WINTER (Microeca fascinans): SPECIES ACCOUNTS

Physical characteristics: Also called brown flycatchers, jacky winters are part of the subfamily Petroicinae. They are 5 to 5.5 inches (12.5 to 14 cm) long and weigh 0.5 to 0.65 ounces (14 to 18 grams). These birds have sand colored crowns and backs, white and brownish gray wings and tails, and white throats and undersides. Their eyes are striking, bearing a white ring over their eyes. A stripe that looks like the stroke of an artist's paintbrush in black runs from the beak, over the eye, and to the edge of the white eye ring.

Geographic range: Jacky winters are found in Australia and around Port Moresby in New Guinea. They occupy nearly all of Australia except for the desert regions, Tasmania, Kangaroo Island, and Cape York in the north.

Habitat: Jacky winters prefer woodlands and scrub where there are trees and an abundance of insects. They will nest in gardens and on the edges of farmlands.

Diet: These birds eat flying insects, beetles, worms, and insect larvae (LAR-vee), the newly hatched wingless form of insects.

Behavior and reproduction: Jacky winters are not noisy birds. They stay within their local territories and often can be heard singing their repeated "peter-peter" or "jacky-jacky" songs or making whistling calls. They will often wag their tails from side to side or spread their tail feathers as a display when they feel threatened.

Jacky winters dive for insects from a perch and take them either on the wing while in the air or by scooping them up as they fly low over the ground. Sometimes, they will stand and pounce onto their food.

This species mates in the spring and summer months of the Southern Hemisphere, July through December. The female lays two to three light blue eggs that are blotched with lavender and brown. The nest, made of grass and roots, is built in a fork of a branch of a tree that is either living or dead. The eggs are incubated for sixteen to seventeen days. Both parents feed the young birds for fourteen to seventeen days.

Jacky winters and people: Jacky winters are popular songbirds among birdwatchers.

Conservation status: Jacky winters are quite common, and their numbers are generally healthy. However, in farming areas, their populations are declining as native vegetation is cleared for more agricultural use. ∎

SOUTHERN SCRUB ROBIN (Drymodes brunneopygia): SPECIES ACCOUNTS

Physical characteristics: The southern scrub robin is 8 to 9 inches (21 to 23 centimeters) long and weighs 1.25 to 1.35 ounces (36 to 38 grams). They have white to buff bellies with dark brown wings and white tipped tails. The wings have light grayish brown undersides.

Geographic range: This species lives in extreme southwestern Australia, along the south central coast into Victoria, and the southwestern part of New South Wales.

Habitat: As their name suggests, southern scrub robins live in the semi-arid scrub forests along the southern regions of Australia. Some populations live in the tea tree thickets along the southern coast. They also can be found in eucalyptus groves and acacia (uh-KAY-shah), short thorny shrubs and trees, scrub.

Diet: Southern scrub robins eat primarily insects, especially beetles, termites, and ants. Occasionally, they will eat fruit from low bushes.

Behavior and reproduction: Southern scrub robins find insects on the ground, foraging through leaf litter.

These birds are territorial and very shy. Their call is either a soft "pee, pee" or a more musical "chip, chip, par-ee."

The southern scrub robin mates in Australia's spring and summer from July to December. The female builds a cup-shaped nest on or near the ground. Females lay one pale green egg, blotched with black and brown and incubate it for sixteen days. Both parents feed the young birds for nine to twelve days. If threatened, the male will whistle and draw predators away from the nest and the eggs or young.

Southern scrub robins and people: There is no known significance between southern scrub robins and people.

Conservation status: This species is quite common and is not threatened. Their numbers, however, have declined because of extensive land clearing for agricultural use. ∎

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Books:

Higgins, P. J., and J. M. Peter, eds. Handbook of Australian New Zealand and Antarctic Birds: Pardalotes to Shrike-thrushes. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Perrins, Christopher. Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds. Richmond Hill, Canada: Firefly Books, 2003.

Robbins, Michael. Birds: Fandex Family Field Guides. New York: Workman Publishing Company, 1998.

Schodde, R. Directory of Australian Birds: Passerines. Collingwood, Australia: CSIRO Publishing, 1999.

Simpson, K., and N. Day. A Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. Ringwood, Australia: Penguin Books Australia Ltd., 1996.

Stattersfield, A. J., David R. Capper, and Guy C. L. Dutson. Threatened Birds of the World. Barcelona and Cambridge, U.K.: Lynx Edicions and Birdlife International, 2000.

Weidensaul, Scott. Birds: National Audubon Society First Field Guides. New York: Scholastic Trade, 1998.