Pacific Robin
Encyclopedia
The Pacific Robin is a red-breasted Australasian robin
in the passerine
bird
genus
Petroica
found on Norfolk Island
, Melanesia
and Polynesia
. It is similar in plumage to the Scarlet Robin
of Australia, and until recently the two were considered conspecific until split in 1999 by Schodde
and Mason
. 14 subspecies of Pacific Robin are currently recognised, and these subspecies display considerable variation in plumage
, foraging preferences and habitat.
, 11.5–13.5 cm long and weighing 9–11 g
. Over much of its range it is the smallest species of bird. The plumage
of the males and females is dimorphic
, and the extent of this varies depending on the subspecies. The male of the nominate race has a black head with a white forehead, a black back and tail, and the wings are also black with a white bar. The breast an belly are red, and the lower belly and rump are white. The female lacks the white forehead and the white bar on the wing; and the black plumage of the male is replaced by dark brown feathers instead. The breast is a duller red than the male and has more brown on the sides, and the white on the rump also smaller. Both sexes have black legs and bill
s. Amongst the subspecies, some males have more female-like plumage, for example P. m. femenina of central Vanuatu
; in others the female more closely resembles the male. The males of P. m. polymorpha of Makira
in the Solomon Islands have two different plumage morphs, including one with no white on the forehead but an all rufous-brown head. For a complete list of the differences in subspecies plumages see below.
in Papua New Guinea
through the Solomon Islands
and Vanuatu
down to Norfolk Island
(although the species is absent from New Caledonia
) and eastwards through Fiji
into Samoa
. Across its range the species is resident, although there may be some small localised movements of birds in the non-breeding seasons. A fossil found on the islands of Ha'apai
in Tonga
show that the species once occurred in the group but is now extinct there
.
s in order to forage. Prey is obtained by aerial flycatching
, gleaning
, sallying and pouncing, with different populations favouring different methods.
the season is from October to January. Parents with young have been seen in mid August in the Solomon Islands
and in June through to September in Samoa
. The species builds a compact nest
which is a cup of plant fibres and spider web
s. The outside of the nest is decorated with moss and lichen, and is therefore easily overlooked. The nest is usually set into a fork or stump on a tree branch, or on a horizontal branch.
Around two to four eggs are laid in each clutch
, with two being the typical clutch size in Norfolk Island, and two to three being typical in Fiji. The eggs are dull grey or greenish, and are incubated
by the female. The nests of Pacific Robins are parastised by Fan-tailed Cuckoo
s where the two species co-occur.
has not yet been accepted by the IUCN the species has not yet been separately assessed, but it is not considered to be threatened globally. Individual subspecies may be threatened by local habitat loss, and the nominate race from Norfolk Island
is considered vulnerable due to habitat loss and introduced species.
in 1789, from a collection in Norfolk Island. It was considered conspecific with the Scarlet Robin
of Australia, and until split in 1999 by Schodde and Mason. It forms a species group along with the Scarlet Robin and the Tomtit
of New Zealand
.
It is one of five red- or pink-breasted species of robin in the genus Petroica; they are colloquially known as "Red Robins". Although named after the European Robin
, is not closely related to it or the American Robin
. Along with the other Australian robins, it was classified for many years as a member of the old world flycatcher family Muscicapidae, before being placed in the whistler family Pachycephalidae
. The robins were also placed in their own family Petroicidae
, or Eopsaltridae.
Sibley and Alquist
'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 crow
s. However, subsequent molecular research (and current consensus) places the robins as a very early offshoot of the Passerida
("advanced" songbirds).
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...
in the passerine
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Petroica
Petroica
Petroica is a genus of Australasian robins, named due to their red and pink markings. They are not closely related to the European Robin nor the American robin...
found on Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
, Melanesia
Melanesia
Melanesia is a subregion of Oceania extending from the western end of the Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Fiji. The region comprises most of the islands immediately north and northeast of Australia...
and Polynesia
Polynesia
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
. It is similar in plumage to the Scarlet Robin
Scarlet Robin
The Scarlet Robin is a common red-breasted Australasian robin in the passerine bird genus Petroica. The species is found on continental Australia and its offshore islands, including Tasmania...
of Australia, and until recently the two were considered conspecific until split in 1999 by Schodde
Richard Schodde
Richard Schodde, OAM is an Australian botanist and ornithologist.Schodde studied at the University of Adelaide where he received a BSc in 1960 and a PhD in 1970. During the 1960s he was a botanist with the CSIRO Division of Land Research and Regional Survey in Papua New Guinea...
and Mason
Ian J. Mason
Ian J. Mason is an Australian ornithologist and taxonomist who is Senior Collection Manager for the Australian National Wildlife Collection. He is an authority on oology.-Publications:...
. 14 subspecies of Pacific Robin are currently recognised, and these subspecies display considerable variation in plumage
Plumage
Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a...
, foraging preferences and habitat.
Description
The Pacific Robin is a small passerinePasserine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
, 11.5–13.5 cm long and weighing 9–11 g
Gram
The gram is a metric system unit of mass....
. Over much of its range it is the smallest species of bird. The plumage
Plumage
Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a...
of the males and females is dimorphic
Sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:...
, and the extent of this varies depending on the subspecies. The male of the nominate race has a black head with a white forehead, a black back and tail, and the wings are also black with a white bar. The breast an belly are red, and the lower belly and rump are white. The female lacks the white forehead and the white bar on the wing; and the black plumage of the male is replaced by dark brown feathers instead. The breast is a duller red than the male and has more brown on the sides, and the white on the rump also smaller. Both sexes have black legs and bill
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
s. Amongst the subspecies, some males have more female-like plumage, for example P. m. femenina of central Vanuatu
Vanuatu
Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...
; in others the female more closely resembles the male. The males of P. m. polymorpha of Makira
Makira
The island of Makira is the largest island of Makira-Ulawa Province in the Solomon Islands. The island is located east of Guadalcanal and south of Malaita. The largest and capital city is Kirakira....
in the Solomon Islands have two different plumage morphs, including one with no white on the forehead but an all rufous-brown head. For a complete list of the differences in subspecies plumages see below.
Distribution and habitat
The Pacific Robin inhabits the islands of the south western Pacific. It ranges from BougainvilleBougainville Island
Bougainville Island is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville of Papua New Guinea. This region is also known as Bougainville Province or the North Solomons. The population of the province is 175,160 , which includes the adjacent island of Buka and assorted outlying islands...
in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
through the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
and Vanuatu
Vanuatu
Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...
down to Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
(although the species is absent from New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
) and eastwards through Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
into Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
. Across its range the species is resident, although there may be some small localised movements of birds in the non-breeding seasons. A fossil found on the islands of Ha'apai
Ha'apai
Haapai is a group of islands, islets, reefs and shoals in the central part of the Kingdom of Tonga, with the Tongatapu group to the south and the Vavau group to the north. Seventeen of the Haapai islands are populated....
in Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
show that the species once occurred in the group but is now extinct there
Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
.
Diet and feeding
Insects, spiders and pseudoscorpions make up the majority of the diet of Pacific Robins. They generally feed in the lower sections of the forest, although they will ascend to the forest canopy occasionally. They will join with mixed-species feeding flockMixed-species feeding flock
A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species, that join each other and move together while foraging...
s in order to forage. Prey is obtained by aerial flycatching
Hawking (birds)
Hawking is a feeding strategy in birds involving catching flying insects in the air. The term usually refers to a technique of sallying out from a perch to snatch an insect and then returning to the same or a different perch...
, gleaning
Gleaning (birds)
Gleaning is a term for a feeding strategy by birds in which they catch invertebrate prey, mainly arthropods, by plucking them from foliage or the ground, from crevices such as rock faces and under the eaves of houses, or even, as in the case of ticks and lice, from living animals. This behavior is...
, sallying and pouncing, with different populations favouring different methods.
Breeding
The Pacific Robin is a seasonal breeder, although the timing of the breeding season varies across its range. Information on the timing of the season is patchy or absent in many islands. On Norfolk Island the breeding season is from September to December, and in VanuatuVanuatu
Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...
the season is from October to January. Parents with young have been seen in mid August in the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
and in June through to September in Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
. The species builds a compact nest
Bird nest
A bird nest is the spot in which a bird lays and incubates its eggs and raises its young. Although the term popularly refers to a specific structure made by the bird itself—such as the grassy cup nest of the American Robin or Eurasian Blackbird, or the elaborately woven hanging nest of the...
which is a cup of plant fibres and spider web
Spider silk
Spider silk is a protein fiber spun by spiders. Spiders use their silk to make webs or other structures, which function as nets to catch other animals, or as nests or cocoons for protection for their offspring...
s. The outside of the nest is decorated with moss and lichen, and is therefore easily overlooked. The nest is usually set into a fork or stump on a tree branch, or on a horizontal branch.
Around two to four eggs are laid in each clutch
Clutch (eggs)
A clutch of eggs refers to all the eggs produced by birds or reptiles, often at a single time, particularly those laid in a nest.In birds, destruction of a clutch by predators, , results in double-clutching...
, with two being the typical clutch size in Norfolk Island, and two to three being typical in Fiji. The eggs are dull grey or greenish, and are incubated
Avian incubation
Incubation refers to the process by which certain oviparous animals hatch their eggs, and to the development of the embryo within the egg. The most vital factor of incubation is the constant temperature required for its development over a specific period. Especially in domestic fowl, the act of...
by the female. The nests of Pacific Robins are parastised by Fan-tailed Cuckoo
Fan-tailed Cuckoo
The Fan-tailed Cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family.It is found in Australia, Fiji, Indonesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.-Habitat:...
s where the two species co-occur.
Threats and conservation
The Pacific Robin is not considered globally threatened. Because the split from the Scarlet RobinScarlet Robin
The Scarlet Robin is a common red-breasted Australasian robin in the passerine bird genus Petroica. The species is found on continental Australia and its offshore islands, including Tasmania...
has not yet been accepted by the IUCN the species has not yet been separately assessed, but it is not considered to be threatened globally. Individual subspecies may be threatened by local habitat loss, and the nominate race from Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
is considered vulnerable due to habitat loss and introduced species.
Taxonomy
The Pacific Robin was originally described by German naturalist Johann Friedrich GmelinJohann Friedrich Gmelin
Johann Friedrich Gmelin was a German naturalist, botanist, entomologist, herpetologist and malacologist.- Education :Johann Friedrich Gmelin was born as the eldest son of Philipp Friedrich Gmelin in 1748 in Tübingen...
in 1789, from a collection in Norfolk Island. It was considered conspecific with the Scarlet Robin
Scarlet Robin
The Scarlet Robin is a common red-breasted Australasian robin in the passerine bird genus Petroica. The species is found on continental Australia and its offshore islands, including Tasmania...
of Australia, and until split in 1999 by Schodde and Mason. It forms a species group along with the Scarlet Robin and the Tomtit
Tomtit
The Tomtit, Petroica macrocephala, is a small passerine bird in the family Petroicidae, the Australian robins. It is endemic to the islands of New Zealand, ranging across the main islands as well as several of the outlying islands. It has several other English names as well. There are several...
of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
It is one of five red- or pink-breasted species of robin in the genus Petroica; they are colloquially known as "Red Robins". Although named after the European Robin
European Robin
The European Robin , most commonly known in Anglophone Europe simply as the Robin, is a small insectivorous passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family , but is now considered to be an Old World flycatcher...
, is not closely related to it or the American Robin
American Robin
The American Robin or North American Robin is a migratory songbird of the thrush family. It is named after the European Robin because of its reddish-orange breast, though the two species are not closely related, with the European robin belonging to the flycatcher family...
. Along with the other Australian robins, it was classified for many years as a member of the old world flycatcher family Muscicapidae, before being placed in 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...
. The robins were also 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 and Alquist
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...
'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 crow
Crow
Crows form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-size jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several...
s. 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...
("advanced" songbirds).
Subspecies
| Subspecies of Pacific Robin | ||
|---|---|---|
| Trinomial name and author |
Range | Description and notes |
| P. m. multicolor (Gmelin, 1789) | Norfolk Island Norfolk Island Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance... |
Nominate (see above); Norfolk Island Pacific Robin Norfolk Island Pacific Robin The Norfolk Island Pacific Robin , also known as the Norfolk Island Scarlet Robin or Norfolk Island Robin, is a small bird in the Australasian robin family, Petroicidae... |
| P. m. ambrynensis (Sharpe, 1900) | Espiritu Santo Espiritu Santo Espiritu Santo is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of . It belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region of Melanesia. It is in the Sanma Province of Vanuatu.... , Aoba Aoba Island Aoba, also known as Ambae or Leper's Island, is an island in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, located near . Ambae has a population of less than 10,000, divided into 3-4 discernible language groups... , Ambryn, Paama Paama Paama is a small island in the Malampa Province, Vanuatu. The island is about 8 km from north to south and only 5 km or so at its widest point. The island is dominated by hills, rising to a height of around 550 m in the north... , Lopevi Lopevi Lopevi is an uninhabited island in Malampa Province, Vanuatu. It lies to the southeast of Ambrym and east of Paama. It consists of the 7-km-wide cone of the active stratovolcano by the same name. It reaches a peak of 1413 m above sea level, the tallest point in central Vanuatu. It has erupted... and Tongoa; north and central Vanuatu & Banks Islands Banks Islands The Banks Islands are a group of islands in northern Vanuatu.Together with the Torres Islands to the northwest, they make up the northernmost province of Torba. The group lies about north of Maewo, and includes Gaua and Vanua Lava, two of the 13 largest islands in Vanuatu... |
Like nominate but less white in the wings, female has orange red breast. Pronounced sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:... . |
| P. m. similis (G.R. Gray, 1860) | Tanna and Aneityum; South Vanuatu | As P. m. ambrynensis but male has even duller sooty black plumage. |
| P. m. femenina (Mayr, 1934) | Efate Éfaté Efate is an island in the Agean Ocean which is part of the Shefa Province in The Republic of Maliki. It is also known as Île Vate. It is the most populous island in Vanuatu. Efate's land area of makes it Vanuatu's third largest island. Most inhabitants of Efate live in Port Vila, the national... and Emao; central Vanuatu |
Male looks more like female, brown upperparts and brown plumage encroaching the red breast. Female lighter than male with cinnamon tinge and off white throat. |
| P. m. soror (Mayr, 1934) | Vanua Lava Vanua Lava Vanua Lava is the second largest of the Banks Islands in Torba Province, Vanuatu, after slightly larger Gaua. It is located about 120 km north-northeast of Espiritu Santo and north of Gaua. It has a land area of 314 km². Its population numbered 2,623 in 2009.The island measures about... ; Banks Islands Banks Islands The Banks Islands are a group of islands in northern Vanuatu.Together with the Torres Islands to the northwest, they make up the northernmost province of Torba. The group lies about north of Maewo, and includes Gaua and Vanua Lava, two of the 13 largest islands in Vanuatu... |
As P. m. femenina but darker upperparts and more scarlet on throat. |
| P. m. cognata (Mayr, 1938) | Erromango; south central Vanuatu | Similar to P. m. soror, but upperparts greyish, and with white in the tail. |
| P. m. polymorpha (Mayr, 1934) | Marika Marika - Nicknames :Mari, Mariczka, Mariczika, Marka, Riky, Mara, Maja, Mariska, Marcsa, Marcsi, Marica, Rikas, Rastas, Ricky- Famous bearers :*Marika Siewert, a Canadian recording artist and music producer*Marika Kotopouli, a Greek actress... ; Solomon Islands |
The males are dimorphc, some with black heads and some with rufous, lack the white forehead. Female resembles the rufous headed male but duller. |
| P. m. septentrionalis (Mayr, 1934) | Bougainville Bougainville Island Bougainville Island is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville of Papua New Guinea. This region is also known as Bougainville Province or the North Solomons. The population of the province is 175,160 , which includes the adjacent island of Buka and assorted outlying islands... ; Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands... |
Male identical to black headed morph of P. m. polymorpha, female has more rufous upperparts and some white in wing. |
| P. m. kulambangrae (Mayr, 1934) | Kolombangara Kolombangara Kolombangara is an island in the New Georgia Islands group of the Solomon Islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean... ; west Solomon Islands |
Male as P. m. septentrionalis, female has reddish upperparts and deeper red breast. |
| P. m. dennisi (Cain & I.C.J Galbraith, 1955) | Guadalcanal Guadalcanal Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568... ; south Solomon Islands |
Male as black-morph P. m. polymorpha, female has olive-brown crown and blacker back and wings. |
| P. m. pusilla (Peale, 1848) | Savai'i Savai'i Savaii is the largest and highest island in Samoa and the Samoa Islands chain. It is also the biggest landmass in Polynesia outside Hawaii and New Zealand. The island of Savai'i is also referred to by Samoans as Salafai, a classical Samoan term used in oratory and prose... and Upolu Upolu Upolu is an island in Samoa, formed by a massive basaltic shield volcano which rises from the seafloor of the western Pacific Ocean. The island is long, in area, and is the second largest in geographic area as well as the most populated of the Samoan Islands. Upolu is situated to the east of... ; Samoa Samoa Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in... |
Male has sooty black upperparts and head, more white on wing, smaller white patch on forehead. |
| P. m. kleinschmidti (Finsch, 1876) | Viti Levu Viti Levu Viti Levu is the largest island in the Republic of Fiji, the site of the nation's capital, Suva, and home to a large majority of Fiji's population.- Geography and economy :... and Vanua Levu Vanua Levu Vanua Levu , formerly known as Sandalwood Island, is the second largest island of Fiji. Located 64 kilometres to the north of the larger Viti Levu, the island has an area of 5,587.1 km² and a population of some 130,000.- Geography :... ; Fiji Fiji Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island... |
As P. m. pusilla but male has larger white forehead patch and darker upperparts, female much greyer upperparts, broad wingbar. |
| P. m. taveunensis (Holyoak, 1979) | Taveuni Taveuni Taveuni is the third-largest island in Fiji, after Vanua Levu and Viti Levu, with a total land area of 435 square kilometers . The cigar-shaped island, a massive shield volcano which rises from the floor of the Pacific Ocean, is situated 6.5 kilometers to the east of Vanua Levu, across the... ; Fiji |
Like P. m. kleinschmidti but male has deeper red on breast and female has brown upperparts. |
| P. m. becki (Mayr, 1934) | Kadavu; south Fiji | As P. m. kleinschmidti but male and female have lighter upperparts. |
External links
- Petroica multicolor multicolor — Pacific Robin (Norfolk Island) Australian Department of the Environment.
- Pacific Robin videos, photos & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection.