Pale-yellow robin

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Pale-yellow robin
Tregellasia capito - Julatten.jpg
Subspecies capito
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Petroicidae
Genus: Eopsaltria
Species:
E. capito
Binomial name
Eopsaltria capito
Gould, 1854
Synonyms

Tregellasia capito

The pale-yellow robin (Eopsaltria capito) is a species of passerine bird in the family Petroicidae. It is endemic to eastern Australia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is an undistinguished bird with a grey head and olive upperparts, white throat and yellow underparts. The genders are similar. Two subspecies are recognised: the smaller nana from North Queensland, and the larger and uncommon nominate race capito from southeast Queensland and northeastern New South Wales. It is also insectivorous.

Contents

Taxonomy

The pale-yellow robin was formally described in 1854 as Eopsaltria capito by the English ornithologist John Gould based on a specimen collected near the Brisbane River in Queensland, Australia. [2] [3] The specific epithet is from Latin meaning "big-headed". [4] The pale-yellow robin was formerly usually placed in the genus Tregellasia, [3] [5] but based on a 2011 molecular genetic study by Les Christidis and coworkers, Tregellasia was merged into a more broadly defined Eopsaltria . [6] [7] 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. Alternate common names given to the species have been large-headed robin and pale robin. [8]

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognised: [7]

Mount Mee SF, SE Queensland, Australia

Description

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 a 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. [8] It can be distinguished from the eastern yellow robin, as the latter bird has black legs and is a little larger. [11]

The pale-yellow robin makes a trilling call when displaying or defending its territory.

Distribution 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 rainforests or dense eucalypt forests, particularly where the lawyer vine grows. [8]

Behaviour

The pale-yellow robin is arboreal and secretive. It is predominantly insectivorous, though may supplement its diet with seeds. [11]

Breeding

It uses the prickly lawyer vine ( Calamus muelleri) as nesting material and as a nest site. [12] 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. [13]

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2016). "Tregellasia capito". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016 e.T22704846A93988325. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22704846A93988325.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Gould, John (1851). "Descriptions of a new species of Ptilotis and a new species of Eopsaltria". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 19 (19) (published 1854): 285.
  3. 1 2 Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 569.
  4. ↑ Jobling, James A. "capito". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  5. ↑ Dickinson, E.C.; Christidis, L., eds. (2014). The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Vol. 2: Passerines (4th ed.). Eastbourne, UK: Aves Press. p. 260. ISBN   978-0-9568611-2-2.
  6. ↑ Christidis, L.; Irestedt, M.; Rowe, D.; Boles, W.E.; Norman, J.A. (2011). "Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA phylogenies reveal a complex evolutionary history in the Australasian robins (Passeriformes: Petroicidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 61 (3): 726–738. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.08.014.
  7. 1 2 AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". doi: 10.2173/avilist.v2025 . Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  8. 1 2 3 Boles, Walter E. (1988). The Robins and Flycatchers of Australia. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. p. 161. ISBN   0-207-15400-7.
  9. ↑ Ramsay, Edward Pierson (1878). "Description of a new species of Rhipidura from Torres Straits? and of a new species of Eopsaltria from the Rockingham Bay district, with remarks on some rare Queensland birds". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 2: 371-378 [372-374].
  10. ↑ Jobling, James A. (2010). "Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird-names" . Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  11. 1 2 "Birds in Backyards – Pale-yellow Robin". Australian Museum, Sydney. 27 November 2006. Archived from the original on 16 June 2008. Retrieved 3 June 2008.
  12. ↑ Boles, Walter E. (1988). The Robins and Flycatchers of Australia. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. p. 159. ISBN   0-207-15400-7.
  13. ↑ Beruldsen, G (2003). Australian Birds: Their Nests and Eggs. Kenmore Hills, Qld: self. p. 335. ISBN   0-646-42798-9.
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