Scarlet Robin (Petroica boodang)

Female scarlet robin perched on a small tree branch As with other woodland-dependent species, the Scarlet Robin (Petroica boodang) population is declining in the ACT. The Scarlet Robin was declared a vulnerable species in the ACT in 2015 and is also listed as vulnerable in NSW and rare in South Australia.

This delightful robin is 12 14 centimetres long and averages 13 grams in weight. Adult male birds have bold red, black and white plumage and females are brownish with a red/orange wash on the breast. Young birds resemble the adult female.

The Scarlet Robin is found in south-eastern Australia and south-west Western Australia. It is distributed widely across the ACT in eucalypt woodlands and dry, open forest, particularly where shrubs, logs, coarse woody debris and native grasses are present. It is generally absent from open areas where no trees remain. In NSW it occupies open forests and woodlands from the coast to the inland slopes.

Conservation threats

The key threats to maintaining a viable, stable and breeding population in the ACT are habitat loss and degradation, predation, climate change and competition.

The main threat is the loss of the robin’s open forest or woodland breeding and foraging habitat and habitat degradation. Nest sites, food sources and foraging habitat (such as standing dead timber, log and coarse woody debris) are susceptible to depletion by firewood collection, overgrazing and the ‘tidying up’ of rough pasture through mowing and slashing.

With their open nests, small passerine birds such as robins have poor nesting success in fragmented and degraded eucalypt woodlands. Predators, particularly the Pied Currawong, are a major cause of nest failure.

Research by the Climate Change Adaptation Plan for Australian Birds shows the species is likely to contract southwards by about 50% in total area by 2085 due to climate change.

The Scarlet Robin is one of many threatened species that may be adversely affected by Noisy Miners, which have significantly increased since being introduced European settlement of Australia.

Conservation objectives

  • Identify, protect and restore Scarlet Robin breeding and foraging habitat.
  • Manage habitat to conserve Scarlet Robin.
  • Undertake and support survey, monitoring and research.
  • Co-operate with state and local government agencies.
  • Increase community awareness of, and engagement in, managing Scarlet Robin as a vulnerable species.

Conservation actions

Conservation actions to address the risk of premature extinction of the Scarlet Robin in the ACT include to:

  • map the location and extent of breeding and foraging habitat
  • protect populations from unintended impacts
  • improve degraded breeding and foraging habitat
  • connect isolated habitat
  • manage critical habitats to conserve the species in response to the identified threats, including distributing coarse woody debris, expanding cat containment areas in new suburbs and replacing invasive plants with locally indigenous species
  • support survey, monitoring and research to better understand the robin’s habitat and ecology, changes in population abundance and distribution, response to climate change and vulnerability to predators
  • co-operate with state and local government agencies in formulating and implementing conservation measures
  • increase community awareness of the need to protect the species in its habitat in the ACT and for community-based conservation action.

More information

Contact

Email environment@act.gov.au or phone Access Canberra on 13 22 81.