Pink robin
Species of songbird native to southeastern Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The pink robin (Petroica rodinogaster) is a small passerine bird native to southeastern Australia. Its natural habitats are cool temperate forests of far southeastern Australia.[2] Like many brightly coloured robins of the family Petroicidae, it is sexually dimorphic. Measuring 13.5 cm (5.3 in) in length, the robin has a small, thin, black bill, and dark brown eyes and legs.[3] The male has a distinctive white forehead spot and pink breast, with grey-black upperparts, wings and tail. The belly is white. The female has grey-brown plumage.[4] 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 robins, but appear to be an early offshoot of the Passerida group of songbirds.
| Pink robin | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Petroicidae |
| Genus: | Petroica |
| Species: | P. rodinogaster |
| Binomial name | |
| Petroica rodinogaster (Drapiez, 1819) | |
Taxonomy
Described by Belgian naturalist Auguste Drapiez in 1819, the pink robin is a member of the Australasian robin family Petroicidae.[5][6] 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.[7] 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.[8] Testing of the nuclear and mitochondrial DNA of Australian members of the genus Petroica suggests that the pink and rose robins are each other's closest relative within the genus.[9]
The generic name Petroica derives from the Ancient Greek petros 'stone' and oikos 'house'. The specific name rodinogaster derives from the Ancient Greek rhodinos 'pink' and gaster 'belly'.[10]
Description
The pink robin is 13.5 cm (5.5 in) long and displays sexual dimorphism – 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.[11]
Distribution and habitat
Its range is the forests of southern Victoria and neighbouring parts of South Australia and New South Wales, and Tasmania.[11]
Breeding
Breeding occurs from September to January. The nest is a well-made, neat, deep cup of moss. Spider webs, 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.[12]
Feeding
Prey consists of a variety of spiders and insects, including caterpillars, ichneumon wasps, beetles, flies and ants.[13]