Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Petroicidae
Genus: Petroica
Species: P. australis
Subspecies: P. australis ssp. longipes
Binomial name: Petroica australis ssp. longipes
Common names: North Island robin, New Zealand robin, toutouwai, bush robin
Petroica australis ssp. longipes is a species of Australasian robin endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. It was once considered a subspecies of the New Zealand robin of South and Stewart Islands, but mitochondrial DNA sequences have shown that the two lineages split prior to the Pleistocene and supported the split into two species.
The North Island robin is distributed mostly in the centre of North Island, with small relict populations in the north and south in Moturua Island in the Bay of Islands, Little Barrier Island and Kapiti Island. Populations have been re-established in Karori Wildlife Sanctuary and Moehau in the Coromandel Peninsula. A remnant population is also re-establishing itself in the Ohope Scenic Reserve in the Bay of Plenty. Birds have also been trans-located from Mokoia Island, Lake Rotorua, to the Ohope Scenic Reserve to assist in the re-establishment of the species. Their natural habitat is mostly natural forest, particularly Podocarpus and Nothofagus forests, from sea level up to the tree line.
The plumage is dark grey-black overall with a pale area on the belly and breast (which is smaller than that of the New Zealand tomtits) and pale streaking on the upperparts. They are sexually dimorphic, with males having darker plumage than the females and being slightly larger.
The North Island tomtit is a terrestrial feeder foraging on or near the ground (unlike the related and more arboreal tomtits). Prey items are located by perch-hunting, where an individual waits at an elevated perch until the prey is spotted, or by active searching; prey is taken from the leaf-litter, low vegetation (branches and foliage) and tree trunks. Numerous invertebrate prey is taken, including cicadas, earthworms, wetas, snails, and spiders. Fruit is also taken. North Island tomtits cache food supplies for later when prey is plentiful, although males cache more food than females does. Both sexes will steal food from their mate's cache and are less likely to cache food if their mate is present. The above text thanks to Wikipedia.
For more details visit http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/north-island-robin
Photographed at Piropiro, Pureora Forest Park in the Ruapehu District.
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
