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19

Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis) Alternate name(s): "Bark Robin", "Creek Robin", "Yellow Bob", "Southern Yellow Robin", "Northern Yellow Robin" Size: 15-16 cm Weight: 15-27 g

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Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Eastern Yellow Robins are medium-sized robins. They have a grey head, small white throat patch and an otherwise all-yellow front, with greyish-yellow flanks. The mantle is olive-grey-brown. Race "australis" has an olive rump, while race "chrysorrhoa" has a yellow rump. The wings are dark grey-brown, with olive leading edges on the flight feathers. The tail is grey. The eyes have dark irises. The short, straight bill, which is surrounded by "whiskers", is dark-grey. The legs and feet are dark brownish-grey. Juveniles have highly cryptic plumage. The front is brown, with light lighter-brown streaking. Both head and back are dark-brown, with copious lighter-brown and grey streaking.

Taxonomy, classification See Eastern Yellow Robin at Wikipedia . Click here for classification information The two former species "Southern Yellow Robin" and "Northern Yellow Robin" are now considered to be conspecific.

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed based on sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Eastern Yellow Robin is available HERE . Eastern Yellow Robins are endemic to eastern Australia. Except for the South coast of VIC and the south-eastern tip of SA, Eastern Yellow Robins are not found anywhere to the West of a line from Port Douglas, QLD, to Melbourne, VIC. In northern NSW their range ends further East, near Walgett, NSW. South-West of a line connecting the lower Hunter River, NSW, with the southern tip of the Gulf of Carpentaria one finds nominate race "australis". To the North-east of that line, up to Port Douglas, is the range of face "chrysorrhoa". Eastern Yellow Robins can be found in various types of forest, from wet, open areas to drier, eucalypt-dominated forest with undergrowth or coastal shrubs. We also often find them in young Cypress pine thickets.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "australis" B. Hensen reports spotting a nesting pair of Eastern Yellow Robins, race "australis", at St. Albans, NSW, in September 2012 and again in September 2018. R. Plumtree reports spotting Eastern Yellow Robins, race "australis", near Kyogle, NSW, in July 2013 and later near Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, in September 2014 and again in October 2015. Race "chrysorrhoa" Eastern Yellow Robins, race "chrysorrhoa", are regularly seen by us on the western side of the Great Dividing Range in northern NSW since 2003. In northern inland NSW we have found them in various locations, e.g. 20 km South of Narrabri, the western fringes of Mt. Kaputar NP and in Deriah Aboriginal Area, 30 km East of Narrabri, where we saw an Eastern Yellow Robin hustling a Brown Treecreeper. A pair of Eastern Yellow Robins, race "chrysorrhoa", was found by us nesting at Dandry Gorge AA, which is located in the southern Pilliga scrub, in December 2013. C. Hayne reports spotting Eastern Yellow Robins, race "chrysorrhoa", at Whittaker's Lagoon, 20 km West of Moree, NSW, repeatedly in 2011. Eastern Yellow Robins, race "chrysorrhoa", are also regularly found by us and our contributors in the Great Dividing Range and on the eastern side of it, along the coastline of northern NSW, but also farther North, in QLD. M. Mearns reports spotting Eastern Yellow Robins, race "chrysorrhoa", at Auburn River NP, near Mundubbera, QLD, in October 2013, and at Bunya Mountains NP, QLD, in December 2015, where they were also found by M. Eaton.

Photos

Not the photos you want? Or are you after even better quality? Have a look here .

Race "australis"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Adult Eastern Yellow Robin, race "australis", on its nest (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[St. Albans, NSW, September 2012]

Eastern Yellow Robin, race "australis", on its nest (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Near Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, September 2014]

Eastern Yellow Robin bringing food for its chicks (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Doctors Flat Road, Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, December 2014]

Eastern Yellow Robin bringing food for its chicks (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Doctors Flat Road, Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, December 2014]

Eastern Yellow Robin removing a chick's discharge to keep the nest clean (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Doctors Flat Road, Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, December 2014]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Near-frontal view of a fledgling Eastern Yellow Robin (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, September 2017]

Near-lateral view of a fledgling Eastern Yellow Robin (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, September 2017]

Lateral view of a fledgling Eastern Yellow Robin that does not have tail feathers yet (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, October 2015]

Near-dorsal view of a fledgling Eastern Yellow Robin, here seen stretching its wings (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, October 2015]

Near-dorsal view of a fledgling Eastern Yellow Robin (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, October 2015]

Race "chrysorrhoa"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of an Eastern Yellow Robin (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Inskip Point, QLD, December 2017]

Frontal view of an Eastern Yellow Robin
[Gibraltar Range NP, NSW, October 2007]

Frontal view of an Eastern Yellow Robin (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Inskip Point, QLD, December 2017]

Near-frontal view of an Eastern Yellow Robin
[Near Barraba, NSW, July 2007]

Near-lateral view of an Eastern Yellow Robin
[Gibraltar Range NP, NSW, October 2007]

Near-lateral view of an Eastern Yellow Robin foraging on the ground (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Inskip Point, QLD, December 2017]

Lateral portrait of an Eastern Yellow Robin
[O'Reilly's Plateau, Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD, May 2014]

Lateral view of an Eastern Yellow Robin (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[O'Reilly's Plateau, Gold Coast, QLD, August 2013]

Lateral view of an Eastern Yellow Robin (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Urunga board walk, Urunga Heads, NSW, July 2017]

Lateral view of an Eastern Yellow Robin "Jumping Jack Flash" (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Auburn River NP, QLD, October 2013]

Lateral view of an Eastern Yellow Robin showing very prominently the bright-yellow rump giving race "chrysorrhoa" its name (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Near Kyogle, NSW, July 2013]

Near-dorsal view of an Eastern Yellow Robin (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Brookfield, Brisbane, QLD, December 2017]

Dorsal view of an Eastern Yellow Robin
[Cranky Rock Recreation Reserve, near Warialda, NSW, July 2016]

Pair of Eastern Yellow Robins hunting off a tree trunk
[Deriah Aboriginal Area, NSW, November 2015]

Eastern Yellow Robin a few metres up in an ironbark eucalypt; this is the bird whose "chop-chop" calls were recorded by us on 21 July 2014
[Eulah Creek, NSW, July 2014]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Near-frontal view of a sub-adult Eastern Yellow Robin with near-complete adult plumage
[Yarrie Lake, NSW, April 2017]

Frontal view of a sub-adult Eastern Yellow Robin (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Ravensbourne NP, QLD, January 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a sub-adult Eastern Yellow Robin
[Dorrigo NP, NSW, February 2012]

Dorsal view of a sub-adult Eastern Yellow Robin hanging on to the bark of a tree while looking for prey
[Dorrigo NP, NSW, February 2012]

Eastern Yellow Robin with a dependent juvenile (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, QLD, February 2018]

Twitcher's tip

Eastern Yellow Robins are the birds with the most varied plumages while maturing (and probably the most scruffy-looking immature birds in the Australian bird world...). Various colour schemes can be seen in the photos below that are sorted approximately in an inverse sequence with age.

A comparison with the photo at the top of this page and the photo just below this one shows how the "collar" just under the grey chin patch is the first part of the breast plumage to develop the characteristic bright-yellow hue
[Deriah Aboriginal Area, NSW, November 2008]

Here a somewhat younger juvenile Eastern Yellow Robin that has only a few specks left in its now almost entirely yellow breast plumage

This Eastern Yellow Robin looks particularly ragged (photo courtesy of C. Kellenberg)

As the Eastern Yellow Robin shown above, this one still has some remnant brown plumage around its eyes and on its crown
[Dorrigo NP, NSW, February 2012]

This mottled Eastern Yellow Robin is in the process of moulting into its adult plumage
[Deriah Aboriginal Area, NSW, October 2008]

Juvenile Eastern Yellow Robin with a yellow chin patch
[Leard State Forest, NSW, November 2014]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Jun - Jan

Eggs: 2 - 3

Incubation period: 14 - 20 days

Fledging age: 12 - 22 days

Given the right conditions, Eastern Yellow Robins can breed almost any time of the year, with the exception of April.

Nest

"bungobittah", "malunna" = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Basket

Material: Bark, grass, webs, moss

Height above ground: 1 - 6 m

Eastern Yellow Robin, race "chrysorrhoa", on its nest (photo courtesy of I. Duncan)
[South West Rocks, NSW, September 2012]

Eastern Yellow Robin, race "chrysorrhoa", on its nest in temperate rainforest - note how this nest differs from others made in drier habitats; this is the bird whose warning calls were recorded on 22 September 2016
[Dorrigo NP, NSW, September 2016]

This Eastern Yellow Robin nest was found only 30 cm off the ground in the first major fork of a Cassinia shrub
(photo courtesy of J. Drewit)
[15 km West of Armidale, NSW, November 2014]

Eastern Yellow Robin, race "australis", feeding first one chick... (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[St. Albans, NSW, September 2018]

... then the other (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[St. Albans, NSW, September 2018]

Three Eastern Yellow Robin chicks in their nest (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Doctors Flat Road, Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, December 2014]

Eastern Yellow Robin bringing food for its chicks (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Doctors Flat Road, Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, December 2014]

Eastern Yellow Robin bringing food for its chicks (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Doctors Flat Road, Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, December 2014]

Eastern Yellow Robin chicks (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Doctors Flat Road, Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, August 2016]

Eastern Yellow Robin removing a chick's discharge to keep the nest clean (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Doctors Flat Road, Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, December 2014]

One Eastern Yellow Robin (male?) feeding its partner (the female?) who is brooding young chicks
(photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Doctors Flat Road, Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, August 2016]

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 22 x 16 mm

Colour: Blueish-grey, with sparse brown speckles

Shape: Tapered oval

Edge of an Eastern Yellow Robin egg visible inside the nest; note the eucalypt leaves in the nest
[Near Eulah Creek, NSW, December 2018]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Sedentary

Elementary unit: Pair

The ease with which Eastern Yellow Robins can be observed comes at a price. In dense underbrush Eastern Yellow Robins are used by other bird species as "sentries". When their alarm call is heard, other birds will leave the area or hide in the underbrush.

One peculiarity that we noticed in May of 2006 is that Eastern Yellow Robins came to take a bath at our place late after sunset, in the last twilight of the day, when most other birds had already settled on their roosts.

And, incredibly, in a stand-off between a Willie Wagtail and an Eastern Yellow Robin over the rights to their favourite hunting ground, the latter came out on top!

Usually Eastern Yellow Robins are found near the ground, hunting from perches that are typically less than 3 m high. However, occasionally we have seen them high up in eucalypt trees, at 10-20 m above ground.

At Dorrigo National Park we observed Eastern Yellow Robins that followed larger birds working through leaf litter (such as Superb Lyrebirds and Australian Brush-Turkeys) and then opportunistically picked their prey out of the dugouts.

R. Plumtree reports observing a brooding Eastern Yellow Robin swallowing a sac with poo of one of the chicks, rather than disposing of it.

Eastern Yellow Robins usually hunt in underbrush (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[O'Reilly's Plateau, Gold Coast, QLD, August 2013]

Eastern Yellow Robins usually hunt in underbrush, e.g. along rivers and creeks, but venture out into more open areas, too, e.g. around rockpools
[Mt. Kaputar NP, NSW, April 2013]

Distant view of an Eastern Yellow Robins taking a bath in a rockpool
[Mt. Kaputar NP, NSW, April 2013]

Just like other robins, Eastern Yellow Robins tend to let their wings droop and also cock their tails
[Deriah Aboriginal Area, NSW, July 2013]

Eastern Yellow Robin hunting off a low perch (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)
[Terry Hie Hie, NSW, March 2014]

Food, Diet

Adults: Small insects

Dependents: As adults

Water intake: Daily

Like all other robins (all families), Eastern Yellow Robins are flycatchers. Most robins hunt for insects from low to mid-level perches.

Eastern Yellow Robin with its prey, a juicy worm (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[O'Reilly's Plateau, Lamington NP, QLD, May 2014]

This Eastern Yellow Robin has found a larva
[Dorrigo NP, NSW, March 2015]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

The call marked as "Territorial call?" below, including modulations in both pitch and amplitude, lasted a total of 3.5 minutes (210 seconds). Only part of it is reproduced here.

eyelrob_20140110.mp3	chrysorrhoa (NW NSW)	Contact calls	© MD
eyelrob_20171101.m4a	chrysorrhoa (NW NSW)	"Chop-chop" territorial calls	© MD
eyelrob_20171101_2.m4a	chrysorrhoa (NW NSW)	"Chop-chop" territorial calls Q&A	© MD
eyelrob_20140622_4.mp3	chrysorrhoa (NW NSW)	"Chop-chop" territorial call	© MD
eyelrob_20141016.mp3	chrysorrhoa (NW NSW)	"Chop-chop" territorial calls	© MD
eyelrob_20141023_2.mp3	chrysorrhoa (NW NSW)	"Chop-chop" territorial calls Q&A	© MD
eyelrob_20180217.m4a	chrysorrhoa (NW NSW)	Territorial calls?	© MD
eyelrob_20140129.mp3	chrysorrhoa (NW NSW)	Territorial calls? (total 3.5 min)	© MD
eyelrob_20160505.mp3	chrysorrhoa (NW NSW)	Territorial calls? (break of dawn)	© MD
eyelrob_20140115.mp3	chrysorrhoa (NW NSW)	Warning calls	© MD
eyelrob_20141119.mp3	chrysorrhoa (NW NSW)	Warning calls (pair with juveniles)	© MD
eyelrob_20160922.mp3	chrysorrhoa (NW NSW)	Warning calls? (female? on nest)	© MD
eyelrob_art_20131113.m4a	chrysorrhoa (SE QLD)	Alarm calls	© ART
eyelrob_20141023.mp3	chrysorrhoa (NW NSW)	Annoyed	© MD
eyelrob_20160505_2.mp3	chrysorrhoa (NW NSW)	? (suspicious)	© MD
eyelrob_20151004.mp3	chrysorrhoa (NW NSW)	? (at nightfall)	© MD
eyelrob_20140313.mp3	chrysorrhoa (NW NSW)	?	© MD

Click here for more recordings

We have also recorded an Eastern Yellow Robin's wing beat.

eyelrob_20160406.mp3

chrysorrhoa (N NSW)

Low flight

© MD

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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