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19

Flame Robin (Petroica phoenicea) Alternate name(s): "Flame-breasted Robin", "Robin Redbreast*" Size: 12.5-14 cm Weight: 11-15 g

Australia: Family Group 19 Family Group 19 Table Southern Scrub-robin Northern Scrub-robin Hooded Robin Dusky Robin Rose Robin Pink Robin Flame Robin Scarlet Robin Norfolk Robin Red-capped Robin Grey-headed Robin White-browed Robin Buff-sided Robin Mangrove Robin White-breasted Robin Western Yellow Robin Eastern Yellow Robin Pale-yellow Robin White-faced Robin Yellow-legged Flycatcher Lemon-bellied Flycatcher Jacky Winter Logrunner Chowchilla White-browed Babbler Hall's Babbler Grey-crowned Babbler Chestnut-crowned Babbler Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

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

Physical description Click here for a physical description Flame Robins are medium-sized robins. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are different. Male Flame Robins have a red front, from the throat down to the belly, and a white vent and undertail coverts. Except for a small white spot on the frons, the head and back are dark-grey. The black wings have conspicuous white bars. The grey tail has white outer shafts. The short, thin bill is dark-grey. Female Flame Robins are mostly brown, with a lighter-coloured vent and undertail coverts. They have inconspicuous, light-brown eye rings. The wings are dark grey-brown, with white patches. The short, thin bill is grey. The eyes of both sexes have dark irises. The legs and feet are grey. Juvenile Flame Robins have a highly cryptic brownish plumage with lighter brown streaking. The wings are darker grey-brown, the belly and vent are creamy. Twitcher's tip Compared with Scarlet Robins and Red-capped Robins, male Flame Robins have and all-black head, except for an inconspicuous white frons, and a red throat.

Taxonomy, classification See Flame Robin at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Flame Robin is available HERE . Flame Robins are endemic to south-eastern Australia. They are found in the Great Dividing Range and adjacent coastal regions, from the NSW/QLD border in the North, all through eastern NSW and all of VIC into the south-eastern corner of SA, up to Innes NP, West of Adelaide, SA. Inland they can be found in the Murray River catchment (roughly South of the Lachlan River). They also populate the islands along Bass Strait and all of Tasmania. While nesting in open forest, outside the breeding season Flame Robins prefer hunting in paddocks or parks. They roost in dense scrub.

Sightings Click here for sighting information C. Hayne reports spotting two pairs of Flame Robins at Little Llangothlin Lagoon NR, near Guyra, NSW, in September 2013. One pair was nesting at the time, possibly incubating eggs (because staying in the nest for extended periods of time). R. Plumtree reports seeing Flame Robins occasionally in the area of Ensay to Omeo, East Gippsland, VIC. F. Japp reports spotting a Flame Robin at Falls Creek, VIC, in September 2014. A male Flame Robin was found by us marking its territory in the very tip of a dead tree on top of Bald Rock, NSW, in August 2015. M. Eaton found Flame Robins at Gloucester Tops, Barrington Tops NP, NSW, in December 2019. More Flame Robins were found by M. Eaton in Tasmania in April 2021, e.g. at Mt. Nelson, Hobart, and on Bruny Island.

Photos

ADULT

MALE

Frontal view of a male Flame Robin, tail down (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, May 2018]

Frontal view of a male Flame Robin, tail up (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, May 2018]

Frontal view of a male Flame Robin (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay East, East Gippsland, VIC, July 2019]

Near-frontal view of a male Flame Robin (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bruny Island, TAS, April 2021]

Close-up near-frontal view of a male Flame Robin (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bruny Island, TAS, April 2021]

Near-frontal view of a male Flame Robin (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bruny Island, TAS, April 2021]

This near-frontal view of a male Flame Robin on the point of take-off gives a good view of the underwing pattern
(photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, July 2015]

Close-up lateral view of a male Flame Robin (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bruny Island, TAS, April 2021]

Close-up lateral view of a male Flame Robin (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bruny Island, TAS, April 2021]

Lateral view of a male Flame Robin (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Omeo Mita Mita Road, Mita Mita, East Gippsland, VIC, September 2019]

Lateral view of a male Flame Robin (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Omeo Mita Mita Road, Mita Mita, East Gippsland, VIC, September 2019]

Dorsal view of a male Flame Robin (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Near Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, January 2014]

FEMALE

Frontal view of a female Flame Robin (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bruny Island, TAS, April 2021]

Frontal/ventral view of a female Flame Robin (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)
[Little Llangothlin Lagoon NR, near Guyra, NSW, September 2013]

Close-up near-lateral view of a female Flame Robin (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bruny Island, TAS, April 2021]

Near-lateral view of a female Flame Robin (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Barrington Tops NP, NSW, December 2019]

Close-up near-lateral view of a female Flame Robin (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bruny Island, TAS, April 2021]

Near-lateral view of a female Flame Robin (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bruny Island, TAS, April 2021]

Lateral view of a female Flame Robin (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay East, East Gippsland, VIC, July 2019]

Lateral view of a female Flame Robin (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[St Albans, NSW, July 2016]

Near-dorsal view of a female Flame Robin (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay, Doctors Flat Road, East Gippsland, VIC, October 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a female Flame Robin (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[St Albans, NSW, July 2016]

Dorsal view of a female Flame Robin (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mt. Nelson, Hobart, TAS, April 2021]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Near-frontal view of a juvenile male Flame Robin (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, October 2013]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Aug - Jan

Eggs: 3 - 4

Incubation period: ca. 14 days

Fledging age: ca. 15-16 days

Nest building: Female

Incubation: Female

Dependent care: Female & male

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Basket

Material: Bark, webs; moss or lichen lining

Height above ground: 0 - 20 m

Female Flame Robin on its nest (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, 2014]

Female Flame Robin peeking outside its nesting hollow in the stump of a broken-off major branch (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)
[Little Llangothlin Lagoon NR, near Guyra, NSW, September 2013]

Eggs

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

Size: 18 x 14 mm

Colour: Creamy, with mid-brown speckles

Shape: Tapered oval

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Migratory

Elementary unit: Solitary/pair

Flame Robins can nest in very diverse places, on the ground, in shrubs, or high up in trees. They are the only robins known to us that will use a hollow for nesting. All other robins tend to build their nests in branches of trees/shrubs.

Food, Diet

Adults: Insects, including caterpillars

Dependents: Like adults

Water intake: ?

Female Flame Robin with its prey, in this case a fly (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)
[Little Llangothlin Lagoon NR, near Guyra, NSW, September 2013]

Female Flame Robin with its prey, a big, juicy caterpillar (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)
[Little Llangothlin Lagoon NR, near Guyra, NSW, September 2013]

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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Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Sun, 23 May 2021, 0:51 +00:00