19

Eastern Yellow Robin

(Eopsaltria australis)
Alternative names: Formerly "Southern Yellow Robin" and "Northern Yellow Robin", now considered as two races of one species
Size: 15-16 cm

Habitat
(for details refer to a field guide)

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. North-east of a line connecting the lower Hunter River, NSW, with the south tip of the Gulf of Carpentaria one finds race "chrysorrhoa", south-west of that line nominate race "australis".

Eastern Yellow Robins can be found in a variety of forest types, from wet, open areas to drier, eucalypt-dominated forest with undergrowth or coastal shrubs.

Sightings

Eastern Yellow Robins (race "chrysorrhoa") are regularly seen by us on the western side of the Great Dividing Range. They are a species with an extraordinary change of appearance in plumage when growing up. The photo sequence below documents the transition from fledgling to adult bird.

Regarding photography they can be very accommodating customers. One can approach them quite easily and have a close look. However, when displeased with the presence of an intruder, they will also warn all other birds in the area, leading to some very frustrating bird-watching experiences...

Seen in the summer of 2004 around the place where we lived at the time, 20 km south of Narrabri, NSW. No more sightings there until May 2006, when a family of three came in during a period of drought.

Seen regularly by us in the years 2007-2008 on the western fringes of Mount Kaputar National Park, 30 km east of Narrabri. There we saw a bird hustling a Brown Treecreeper.

Also sighted on a trip to the east of the Great Dividing Range, in the area from Armidale to Dorrigo and along the coast from Iluka to Hat Head, NSW.

Photos

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

Frontal view of an Eastern Yellow Robin

Lateral view of the same bird

Close to frontal view of an Eastern Yellow Robin sitting in a lemon tree

Lateral view slightly from behind of an Eastern Yellow Robin

Eastern Yellow Robin in brilliant early-morning sunlight

Eastern Yellow Robin hunting off a tree trunk

Eastern Yellow Robin seen from behind

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 may be a sequence in age, but we do not know this for certain.

Immature Eastern Yellow Robin hiding amongst shrubs; one can see that the belly is starting to turn yellow, while the rest is still speckled with grey and looking ragged because the bird is moulting

This mottled bird is in the process of moulting into its adult plumage

This specimen looks particularly ragged; photo courtesy of C. Kellenberg

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

A comparison with the photo at the top of this page and the photo just above 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

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

Type: Basket Material: Bark, grass Height above ground: 1 - 6 m

Bad photo of an Eastern Yellow Robin nest in the fork of a Eucalypt tree

Eggs

Size: 22 x 16 mm Colour: Blueish-grey, sparsely speckled with brown speckles Shape: Tapered oval

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 ontop!

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.

Food

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