Pale-yellow Robin
Eopsaltria capito
A rotund little robin, olive above, with gray head, yellow underparts, and white around the base of the bill. Perches on low branches and on the side of tree trunks, from which it drops to the ground to capture prey. Similar Eastern Yellow Robin is brighter yellow below and has gray lores. Inhabits rainforests in the wet tropics of far northern Queensland and eastern Australia.
Identification
The male and female pale-yellow robin are similar in plumage. Measuring 12–13.5 centimetres (4.7–5.3 in) and weighing 15–18 grams (0.53–0.63 oz), it is a bird of subdued appearance, with grey head and nape blending into olive-green upperparts, more brownish on the wings and tail. The throat is white, and the lores are off-white in the southern race and buff in the northern race. The breast and belly are yellow. The legs are yellow-orange and the iris dark brown. The thin black bill is around 1.5 centimetres (0.59 in) long. Juvenile birds are rufous with paler streaks on the head. It can be distinguished from the eastern yellow robin, as the latter bird has black legs and is a little larger.<p>The pale-yellow robin makes a trilling call when displaying or defending its territory.
Taxonomy
The pale-yellow robin was first described by ornithologist John Gould in 1854. For many years, it was classified with the other yellow robins in the genus Eopsaltria, on the basis of plumage, nests, and behaviour. Others have placed it with the genus Poecilodryas, due to the similarly plumaged fledglings. However, the closest relatives of both it and the related white-faced robin remain unclear, and are hence placed in their own small genus Tregellasia, originally erected by Gregory Mathews in 1912. Like all Australian robins, it is not closely related to either the European robin or the American robin, but belongs rather to the Corvida parvorder, comprising many tropical and Australian passerines, including pardalotes, fairy-wrens and honeyeaters, as well as crows.<p>Alternate common names given to the species have been large-headed robin and pale robin.
- Scientific name
- Eopsaltria capito
- Authority
- (Gould, 1854)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Petroicidae
- Genus
- Eopsaltria
Range and habitat
Sedentary in its range, the pale-yellow robin is found from Mount Amos to Paluma in North Queensland, and from Cooloola on the Sunshine Coast south to Barrington Tops National Park in New South Wales. It prefers rainforest or dense eucalypt forest, particularly where the lawyer vine grows.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The pale-yellow robin is arboreal and secretive. It is predominantly insectivorous, though may supplement its diet with seeds.<p>It uses the prickly lawyer vine (Calamus muelleri) as nesting material and as a nest site. The nest may be anywhere up to 10 m (30 ft) above the ground, though often much lower. Breeding season is July to December with one, or sometimes two, broods. A clutch of 2 oval eggs, measuring 20 by 15 millimetres (0.79 in × 0.59 in), is laid. They are pale green, splotched with brownish marks.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Gray-crowned Tetraka
Xanthomixis cinereiceps
Attractive, medium-sized tetraka. Green back, gray head, white throat, and yellowish underparts. Madagascar endemic that is found in eastern rainforest at middle and high elevations. Inhabits the mid-story, most often feeding by creeping along mossy branches like a woodpecker. Frequently joins flocks with tetrakas and other species. Call is a series of high, silvery, sputtered “sit” notes. Separated from Spectacled Tetraka by its smaller size, brighter underparts, gray head, and tree-creeping habits.
Moustached Woodcreeper
Xiphocolaptes falcirostris
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