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Scarlet Robin (Petroica boodang) Alternate name(s): "White-capped Robin", "Scarlet-breasted Robin", "Robin Redbreast*" Aboriginal name(s): Race "campbelli": "kooba", "mendidi", "binibintj", "demclik", "koobadjit" (WA) Size: 12-14 cm Body mass: 12-14 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 Scarlet Robins are small robins. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are different. Male Scarlet Robins have a scarlet-red front, from the chest down to the belly, and a white vent and undertail coverts. Except for a small white spot on the frons, the head, throat and back are black. The black wings have conspicuous white bars. The flanks are white. The grey tail has white outer shafts. The short, thin bill is dark-grey. Female Scarlet Robins have a light grey-brown throat, a pale scarlet chest and a creamy belly and vent. Except for a small, inconspicuous off-white frons, the head and back are brown. 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 Scarlet Robins have highly cryptic dark brown-grey plumage with lighter brown streaking. The wings are darker grey-brown, the belly and vent are creamy. They have a small, inconspicuous off-white spot on their frons. Twitcher's tip Compared with Flame Robins and Red-capped Robins, male Scarlet Robins have and all-black head, except for a prominent white frons, and a black throat.

Taxonomy, classification See Scarlet Robin at Wikipedia . Click here for classification information Scarlet Robins (Petroica boodang) are now considered a species, separate from the "Pacific Robin" (Petroica pusilla) and the Norfolk Robin (Petroica multicolor).

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 Scarlet Robin is available HERE . Scarlet Robins, Petroica boodang, are endemic to Australia. There are three races of Scarlet Robins. Nominate race "boodang" is found in the Great Dividing Range and the south-eastern coastal fringe of Australia, from just to the North of Brisbane, QLD, in the North to the area around and North of Adelaide, SA, in the South. On Eyre peninsula and in the south-western corner of WA (but not along the South coast in between those two areas) one finds race "campbelli". On Flinders Island, Cape Barren Island and the eastern half of Tasmania race "leggii" is found. During their breeding season Scarlet Robins can usually be found in dense, tall forest. Outside the breeding season they tend to disperse into more open forest.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "boodang" We first spotted a female Scarlet Robin, race "boodang", in 2005 in Oxley Wild Rivers NP, near Wollomombi Falls, north-eastern NSW. In July 2009 a male bird was spotted at the same location. M. Eaton reports finding the species there in June 2017. Another sighting of a Scarlet Robin, race "boodang", was in 2006 in Jack's Creek State Forest, 25 km South of Narrabri, NSW. In August 2007 a female Scarlet Robin, race "boodang", was spotted by us in Mt. Kaputar NP, 40 km East of Narrabri, NSW. A male bird was spotted there in May 2012. A male Scarlet Robin, race "boodang", was spotted by C. Kellenberg at the Woods Reserve of Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, NSW, in February 2009. R. Plumtree reports spotting Scarlet Robins, race "boodang", in East Gippsland, VIC, occasionally. J. Greaves reports spotting Scarlet Robins, race "boodang", at Cape Borda, Kangaroo Island, SA, in March 2016. E. Scott reports spotting Scarlet Robins, race "boodang", in Tenterfield, NSW, in April 2017. Race "campbelli" J. Greaves reports spotting a male Scarlet Robin, race "campbelli", at Manjimup, WA, in March 2015, and another male at Dryandra Woodland, WA, in August 2015. M. Mearns reports finding Scarlet Robins, race "campbelli", in Margaret River, WA, in September 2018. Race "leggii" B. Hensen reports spotting a Scarlet Robin, race "leggii", on Bruny Island, TAS, in March 2016. M. Eaton found a Scarlet Robin, race "leggii", at Mt. Wellington, Hobart, TAS, and along the Queen Elizabeth Track, Bruny Island, TAS, in April 2021, and in St. Helens, TAS, in September 2021. C. Pears reports finding a Scarlet Robin, race "leggii", at Adventure Bay, Bruny Island, TAS, in January 2023.

Photos

Race "boodang"

ADULT

MALE

Note that the birds photographed in north-western inland NSW have much whiter flanks and vents than those from the southern parts of the continent, e.g. Kangaroo Island.

Frontal/ventral view of a male Scarlet Robin (photo courtesy of C. Kellenberg)
[Woods Reserve, Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, NSW, February 2009]

Frontal view of a male Scarlet Robin - who can spot the near-perfect map of Australia? (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, April 2015]

Near-lateral view of a male Scarlet Robin (photo courtesy of E. Scott)
[Tenterfield, NSW, April 2017]

Near-lateral view of a male Scarlet Robin (photo courtesy of E. Scott)
[Tenterfield, NSW, April 2017]

Near-lateral view of a male Scarlet Robin (photo courtesy of E. Scott)
[Tenterfield, NSW, April 2017]

Lateral view of a male Scarlet Robin (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Cape Borda, Kangaroo Island, SA, March 2016]

Lateral view of a male Scarlet Robin (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Cape Borda, Kangaroo Island, SA, March 2016]

Dorsal view of a male Scarlet Robin (photo courtesy of E. Scott)
[Tenterfield, NSW, April 2017]

FEMALE

Note how much more charcoal-grey the head and back of the females shown here - especially the ones from Kangaroo Island - are compared to depictions in many field guides.

Frontal view of a female Scarlet Robin (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, May 2018]

Frontal view of a female Scarlet Robin (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, September 2019]

Near-lateral view of a female Scarlet Robin (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Cape Borda, Kangaroo Island, SA, March 2016]

Lateral view of a female Scarlet Robin (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Cape Borda, Kangaroo Island, SA, March 2016]

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

Lateral view of a female Scarlet Robin (photo courtesy of E. Scott)
[Tenterfield, NSW, April 2017]

Lateral/ventral view of a female Scarlet Robin (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Oxley Wild Rivers NP, NSW, June 2017]

Dorsal view of a female Scarlet Robin (photo courtesy of E. Scott)
[Tenterfield, NSW, April 2017]

Male Scarlet Robin, right, and female, left, singing (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Near Alpine, East Gippsland, VIC, February 2014]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Lateral view of an immature male Scarlet Robin moulting into adult plumage (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Mt. Cope, Falls Creek, East Gippsland, VIC, February 2017]

Lateral view of a juvenile female Scarlet Robin (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Mt. Cope, Falls Creek, East Gippsland, VIC, February 2017]

Race "campbelli"

ADULT

MALE

Frontal view of a male Scarlet Robin (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Manjimup, WA, March 2015]

Near-lateral view of a male Scarlet Robin (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Dryandra Woodland, WA, August 2015]

Near-dorsal view of a male Scarlet Robin (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Manjimup, WA, March 2015]

Race "leggii"

ADULT

MALE

Near-frontal view of a male Scarlet Robin (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Bruny Island, TAS, March 2016]

Near-lateral view of a male Scarlet Robin (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mt. Wellington, Hobart, TAS, April 2021]

FEMALE

Lateral view of a female Scarlet Robin in the bathtub (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Queen Elizabeth Track, Bruny Island, TAS, April 2021]

Near-dorsal view of a female Scarlet Robin (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[St. Helens, TAS, September 2021]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Partially migratory

Elementary unit: Pair

Food, Diet

Adults: Small insects

Dependents: As adults

Water intake: Daily

Like all other (families of) robins, Scarlet Robins are flycatchers. Most robins hunt for insects or arachnids from low to mid-level perches.

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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