Delightful and delicate – The Rose Robin

Of the seven species of robins that occur in the north-east, the Rose Robin is certainly among the least common - only its close relative, the Pink Robin, is rarer in the region. It is also least in size, being the smallest robin species in Australia. As its name suggests, the Rose Robin is named after the rose pink colour of the male’s breast, which stands out vividly against the slatey-grey head, wings and back, and their crisp white belly. Females can sometimes have a rose-coloured wash of pink on the breast with the rest of the bird being brownish-grey. Rose Robins are spring-summer migrants to Victoria from north-eastern New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland. They begin to arrive in spring and most of the population heads for the tall wet forests of the Great Divide where they breed. After breeding, in autumn, most birds make their return northward migration but some individuals choose to linger on and disperse throughout various types of open forests and woodlands such as box-ironbark and red gum. Very few may remain entirely through winter, with the majority of the population heading north. Records of the species from North East Victoria are typically of birds on the move and they rarely stay long in any given location. When migrating, they avoid open country and use networks of vegetation, such as larger forest parcels, remnant bushland areas and wooded creeklines and roadsides, to move through the landscape. Like other robins, Rose Robins are insect-eaters, however, they are strictly arboreal and never come to the ground to feed. Instead, they flit through the foliage and branches of shrubs and saplings, and through the eucalypt canopy, searching for their insect prey. They are restless foragers, often fanning their tail (showing the conspicuous white edges) and spreading, drooping and flicking their wings nervously, in an attempt to flush insects from the foliage which are then captured and consumed. Food may be picked off leaves and twigs but Rose Robins characteristically dart into the air in tumbling pursuit of their prey. They commonly associate with other small insect-feeding birds, such as fantails, thornbills and pardalotes, in mixed species flocks. Locally, Rose Robins may be seen in the Warby Ranges, typically where there is tall Silver Wattle understorey, especially around April-May and September-October. They also regularly occur in the forests around Chiltern and Beechworth, and along well-vegetated parts of the Ovens and King Rivers.

Delightful and delicate – The Rose Robin

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