Pink Robin
Encyclopedia
The Pink Robin is a small passerine
bird native to southeastern Australia
. Its natural habitat
s are temperate forest
s and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Like many brightly coloured robins of the Petroicidae
family, it is sexually dimorphic
. Measuring 13.5 cm (5.5 in) in length, the robin has a small thin black bill, and dark brown eyes and legs. The male has a distinctive white crown and pink breast, grey-black upperparts, wings and tail. The belly is white. The female has grey-brown plumage. The position of the Pink Robin and its Australian relatives on the passerine family tree is unclear; the Petroicidae are not closely related to either the European
or American Robin
s but appear to be an early offshoot of the Passerida
group of songbird
s.
in 1819, the Pink Robin is a member of the Australasian Robin family Petroicidae
, or Eopsaltridae. Sibley
and Ahlquist's DNA-DNA hybridisation
studies placed this group in a Corvida
parvorder comprising many tropical and Australian passerines including pardalotes, fairy-wrens
, honeyeaters and 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. Testing of the nuclear and mitochondrial DNA of Australian members of the genus Petroica suggests the Pink and Rose Robin
s are each other's closest relative within the genus.
– the males and females have plumage
which differ markedly. The male has a dark blackish-grey head, throat, back, wings and tail, a pink breast and belly fading to white on the lower abdomen, and a white forehead. The female is dark grey-brown above, with two buff-coloured wing-bars and pinkish-tinged underparts. The bill and feet are black, and the eyes are dark brown.
s, beetles, flies and ants.
s, feathers and fur are used for binding or filling, and the nest is generally placed in a tree fork up to 5 m (15 ft) above the ground. A clutch of three or four eggs is laid. The eggs, which measure 18 by 14 mm, are greyish-, greenish- or blueish-white, and are marked with dark brown and lavender splotches and spots, usually concentrated around the large end.
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 native to southeastern Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Its natural habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
s are temperate forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Like many brightly coloured robins of the 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...
family, it is sexually 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:...
. Measuring 13.5 cm (5.5 in) in length, the robin has a small thin black bill, and dark brown eyes and legs. The male has a distinctive white crown and pink breast, grey-black upperparts, wings and tail. The belly is white. The female has grey-brown plumage. The position of the Pink Robin and its Australian relatives on the passerine family tree is unclear; the Petroicidae are not closely related to either the European
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...
or 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...
s but appear to be an early offshoot of the Passerida
Passerida
Passerida is under the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, one of two "parvorders" contained within the suborder Passeri...
group of 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"...
s.
Taxonomy
Described by Belgian naturalist Pierre Auguste Joseph DrapiezPierre Auguste Joseph Drapiez
Pierre Auguste Joseph Drapiez was a Belgian naturalist.He founded with the French botanist Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent and the Belgian chemist Jean-Baptiste Van Mons the Annales générales de Sciences physiques consacrées aux Sciences naturelles published in six volumes between 1819 and...
in 1819, the Pink Robin is a member of the Australasian 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...
, 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 this group 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...
, honeyeaters and 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. Testing of the nuclear and mitochondrial DNA of Australian members of the genus Petroica suggests the Pink and Rose Robin
Rose Robin
The Rose Robin is a small passerine bird native to Australia. Like many brightly coloured robins of the Petroicidae it is sexually dimorphic. The male has a distinctive pink breast. Its upperparts are dark grey with white frons, and its tail black with white tips. The underparts and shoulder are...
s are each other's closest relative within the genus.
Description
The Pink Robin is 13.5 cm (5.5 in) long and displays sexual dimorphismSexual 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:...
– the males and females have 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...
which differ markedly. The male has a dark blackish-grey head, throat, back, wings and tail, a pink breast and belly fading to white on the lower abdomen, and a white forehead. The female is dark grey-brown above, with two buff-coloured wing-bars and pinkish-tinged underparts. The bill and feet are black, and the eyes are dark brown.
Distribution and habitat
Its range is forests of southern Victoria and neighbouring parts of South Australia and New South Wales, and Tasmania.Feeding
Prey consists of a variety of spiders and insects, including caterpillars, ichneumon waspIchneumon wasp
The Ichneumonoidea are insects classified in the hymenopteran suborder Apocrita. The superfamily is made up of the ichneumon wasps and the braconids...
s, beetles, flies and ants.
Breeding
Breeding occurs from September to January. The nest is a well-made, neat, deep cup of moss. Spider webSpider web
A spider web, spiderweb, spider's web or cobweb is a device built by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets....
s, feathers and fur are used for binding or filling, and the nest is generally placed in a tree fork up to 5 m (15 ft) above the ground. A clutch of three or four eggs is laid. The eggs, which measure 18 by 14 mm, are greyish-, greenish- or blueish-white, and are marked with dark brown and lavender splotches and spots, usually concentrated around the large end.