Pacific Robin

Overview

The Pacific robin (Petroica pusilla) is a small passerine bird found across Melanesia and Polynesia. It is a red-breasted Australasian robin that was previously considered conspecific with the Australian scarlet robin but is now recognised as a distinct species with thirteen subspecies.

Identification

• Small passerine, 11.5–13.5 cm long and weighing 9–11 g, often the smallest bird in its range.
• Males typically have a black head with a white forehead, black back and wings with a white bar, and a red breast with a white lower belly and rump.
• Females resemble males but have dark brown plumage instead of black, a duller red breast with brown sides, and lack the white forehead and wing bar.
• Both sexes possess black legs and bills.

Habitat

This species inhabits the islands of the southwestern Pacific, ranging from Bougainville in Papua New Guinea through the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to Fiji and Samoa. It is a resident species, though small localised movements may occur during the non-breeding season, and it is notably absent from New Caledonia.

Diet

The diet consists primarily of insects, spiders, and pseudoscorpions. They generally forage in the lower sections of the forest but occasionally ascend to the canopy, joining mixed-species feeding flocks to obtain prey through aerial flycatching, gleaning, sallying, and pouncing.

Did you know?

The nest of the Pacific robin is a compact cup of plant fibres and spider webs that is decorated on the outside with moss and lichen, making it easily overlooked by predators and observers alike.