Dusky Robin
Encyclopedia
The Dusky Robin is a small passerine bird native to Tasmania
. A member of the Australian Robin family Petroicidae
, it is not related to robins of Europe and North America. It is a brown-plumaged bird of open woodland.
naturalists
Jean René Constant Quoy
and Joseph Paul Gaimard
in 1830, and was known for many years as Petroica vittata before being placed in its current genus Melanodryas. Two subspecies are recognised, one on the Tasmanian mainland and one on King Island
. 'Stump robin' was a name given it by early settlers from its habit of sitting on stumps or posts. Other local names include 'Wood Robin' and 'Sad Robin'.
The Australian robins were classified for a time in the Old World flycatcher
family Muscicapidae or the whistler family Pachycephalidae
, before being placed in their own family Petroicidae
, or Eopsaltridae. Sibley
and Ahlquist's DNA-DNA hybridisation
studies placed the robins in a Corvida
parvorder comprising many tropical and Australian passerines including pardalotes, fairy-wrens
and honeyeaters as well as crows. However, subsequent molecular research (and current consensus) places the robins as a very early offshoot of the Passerida
, or "advanced" songbirds, within the songbird
lineage.
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
. A member of the Australian Robin family Petroicidae
Petroicidae
The bird family Petroicidae includes roughly 45 species in about 15 genera. All are endemic to Australasia: New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and numerous Pacific Islands as far east as Samoa. For want of an accurate common name, the family is often called the Australasian robins. Within the...
, it is not related to robins of Europe and North America. It is a brown-plumaged bird of open woodland.
Taxonomy
The Dusky Robin was first described by the FrenchFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
naturalists
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
Jean René Constant Quoy
Jean René Constant Quoy
Jean René Constant Quoy was a French zoologist.Along with Joseph Paul Gaimard he served as naturalist aboard La Coquille under Louis Isidore Duperrey during its circumnavigation of the globe , and the Astrolabe under the command of Jules Dumont d'Urville...
and Joseph Paul Gaimard
Joseph Paul Gaimard
Joseph Paul Gaimard was a French naval surgeon and naturalist.Along with Jean René Constant Quoy he served as naturalist on the ships L'Uranie under Louis de Freycinet 1817-1820, and L'Astrolabe under Jules Dumont d'Urville 1826-1829...
in 1830, and was known for many years as Petroica vittata before being placed in its current genus Melanodryas. Two subspecies are recognised, one on the Tasmanian mainland and one on King Island
King Island
King Island, Kings Island or King's Island may refer to:Australia* King Island * King Island ** King Island AirportCanada* King Island * King Island * King Island USA...
. 'Stump robin' was a name given it by early settlers from its habit of sitting on stumps or posts. Other local names include 'Wood Robin' and 'Sad Robin'.
The Australian robins were classified for a time in the Old World flycatcher
Old World flycatcher
The Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae is a large family of small passerine birds mostly restricted to the Old World. These are mainly small arboreal insectivores, many of which, as the name implies, take their prey on the wing.-Characteristics:...
family Muscicapidae or the whistler family Pachycephalidae
Pachycephalidae
The family Pachycephalidae, collectively the whistlers, includes the whistlers, shrike-thrushes, shrike-tits, pitohuis and Crested Bellbird, and is part of the ancient Australo-Papuan radiation of songbirds. Its members range from small to medium in size, and occupy most of Australasia...
, before being placed in their own family Petroicidae
Petroicidae
The bird family Petroicidae includes roughly 45 species in about 15 genera. All are endemic to Australasia: New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and numerous Pacific Islands as far east as Samoa. For want of an accurate common name, the family is often called the Australasian robins. Within the...
, or Eopsaltridae. Sibley
Charles Sibley
Charles Gald Sibley was an American ornithologist and molecular biologist. He had an immense influence on the scientific classification of birds, and the work that Sibley initiated has substantially altered our understanding of the evolutionary history of modern birds.Sibley's taxonomy has been a...
and Ahlquist's DNA-DNA hybridisation
DNA-DNA hybridisation
DNA-DNA hybridization generally refers to a molecular biology technique that measures the degree of genetic similarity between pools of DNA sequences. It is usually used to determine the genetic distance between two species...
studies placed the robins in a Corvida
Corvida
The "Corvida" were one of two "parvorders" contained within the suborder Passeri, as proposed in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy. Standard taxonomic practice would place them at the rank of infraorder....
parvorder comprising many tropical and Australian passerines including pardalotes, fairy-wrens
Maluridae
The Maluridae are a family of small, insectivorous passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea. Commonly known as wrens, they are unrelated to the true wrens of the Northern Hemisphere...
and honeyeaters as well as crows. However, subsequent molecular research (and current consensus) places the robins as a very early offshoot of the Passerida
Passerida
Passerida is under the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, one of two "parvorders" contained within the suborder Passeri...
, or "advanced" songbirds, within the songbird
Songbird
A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds . Another name that is sometimes seen as scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin oscen, "a songbird"...
lineage.
Description
Measuring 16–17 cm (6.4-6.8 in) in length, the Dusky Robin lacks the bright colours of its robin relatives. The male and female are similar in appearance, with greyish- or olive-brown upperparts and narrow white shoulder edge, and white patch on the wing. The throat is white and the underparts a pale brown. The feathers of the tail are brown with white edges. The bill is black, and the eyes and legs brown-black.Distribution and habitat
The Dusky Robin is endemic to Tasmania, where it is widespread. Its preferred habitat is open eucalypt forest and coastal heath.Breeding
The breeding season is from July to December, and one or two broods are raised. Placed in a fork in a tree or stump, often a fire-blackened one, the nest is a neat cup-shaped structure made of grass and bark, often only two or three metres above the ground. The clutch consists of two to four pale olive- to blue-green eggs splotched with darker green and brown, and measures 22 mm x 17 mm (0.9 x 0.6 in).Further reading
- BirdLife International 2004. Melanodryas vittata. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 26 July 2007.