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 LC    Northern Scrub-robin* Id (Atlas): 442
    Drymodes superciliaris

Description
Image of Northern Scrub-robin
 

Other Names (World)
Northern Scrub-Robin, New Guinea Scrub-Robin, Papuan Scrub-robin, Eastern Scrub-robin, Northern Scrub Robin

Family
Petroicidae (Australasian Robins)

Size
21 - 22 cm

First Described
Gould, 1850

Derivation
Dry-mö'-des - Gk, of the woods: su-per-cil-i-är'-is - L., superciliosus, browed (above the eye)

Abundance
LC

Locally common but NT species is probably extinct. Sedentary.

Habitat
Rainforest, including vine-thickets and monsoon forests, with low to mid-level canopy, dense litter layer but less often in areas with dense undergrowth.

Range (Guide)
Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea.

Image of Range of Northern Scrub-robin
Cape York Peninsula. Possibly also the Roper River region, NT.
 
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).

Status LC
Probably secure.

See also EPBC Act List of Threatened Fauna for subspecies colcloughi (Roper River - extinct).

For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Habits
Singly or in twos.

Food
Insects, procured from the ground.

Voice
A long, high-pitched whistle. Hissing scolds.



Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (8)...)

 
Northern Scrub Robin (Drymodes superciliaris) [XC761823]
     by Phil Gregory from Lockhart River, Cook Shire, Queensland, Australia (song)

 
Northern Scrub Robin (Drymodes superciliaris) [XC104930]
     by Marc Anderson from Iron Range National Park, QLD, Australia (call)

Breeding Season
October - February.

J F M A M J J A S O N D
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   


Nest
A circular depression scratched into the ground, roughly lined with long wiry tendrils of plants, leaves, and fibre.

Eggs
1 or 2; white or pale grey, spotted and blotched with blue-grey and red-brown; oval; about 22 x 18 mm. Incubation: by female.

Young
Altricial, nidicolous.

Subspecies
Formerly accepted subspecies colcloughi, known from only two specimens collected in 1910, supposedly from R Roper, in Northern Territory (Australia), now thought to have been based on specimens of mistaken provenance.

The following 4 subspecies are recognised:

  • superciliaris Gould, 1850   -  Northern Cape York Peninsula, Qld, Australia, extending south to the Archer River on the western coast and to McIlwraith Range - Stewart River on the eastern coast.
  • beccarii (Salvadori, 1876)   -  Arfak and Wandammen Mits, New Guinea.
  • nigriceps Rand, 1940   -  Cyclops Mts and the northern slope of the Oranje Range, New Guinea.
  • brevirostris (De Vis, 1897)   -  South-eastern and southern New Guinea and Aru Island.



References
See References.

The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9