Torrent Robin
Encyclopedia
The Torrent Robin is a species of bird
in the Australasian robin family
Petroicidae
. It is also known as the Torrent Flyrobin. It is monotypic
within the genus Monachella, although it has also been suggested that it should be merged with the genus Microeca
, as they are similar in behaviour and anatomy. The species occurs in New Guinea
and New Britain
. There are two subspecies, the nominate occurring in New Guinea and M. m. coultasi in New Britain. M. m. coultasi may constitute a good species, but more research is needed to establish this. The Torrent Robin is the only species of Australasian robin known to occur in New Britain, although there have been reports of another, as yet undescribed species of flyrobin which awaits discovery by science.
As suggested by its name the Torrent Robin's preferred habitat is fast moving streams and rivers with protruding boulders.
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...
in the Australasian robin family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by 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...
. It is also known as the Torrent Flyrobin. It is monotypic
Monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...
within the genus Monachella, although it has also been suggested that it should be merged with the genus Microeca
Microeca
Microeca is a genus of bird in the Petroicidae family.It contains the following species:* Jacky-winter * Lemon-bellied Flyrobin * Yellow-bellied Flyrobin...
, as they are similar in behaviour and anatomy. The species occurs in New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
and New Britain
New Britain
New Britain, or Niu Briten, is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from the island of New Guinea by the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel...
. There are two subspecies, the nominate occurring in New Guinea and M. m. coultasi in New Britain. M. m. coultasi may constitute a good species, but more research is needed to establish this. The Torrent Robin is the only species of Australasian robin known to occur in New Britain, although there have been reports of another, as yet undescribed species of flyrobin which awaits discovery by science.
As suggested by its name the Torrent Robin's preferred habitat is fast moving streams and rivers with protruding boulders.