Australasian Robins and Tits

The gallery features images of Australasian Robins (Petroicidae) that I photographed in wooded areas in Australia and New Zealand together with Northern Hemisphere Tits (Paridae). See Taxonomy note below.

Australasian Robins

South Island Robin (Petroica australis rakiura) Female perched at Ulva Island in New Zealand

South Island Robin (Petroica australis rakiura) Male perched at Ulva Island in New Zealand

Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis) perched at Booderee National Park in Jervis Bay Territory

Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis chrysorrhos) perched at Broken River in Eungella National Park in Queensland

Pale-yellow Robin (Tregellasia capito nana) perched at Peterson Creek in Yungaburra, Atherton Tablelands

Lemon-bellied Flyrobin (Microeca flavigaster) perched at Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve in the Northern Territories

Australasian Robin Notes

All featured species are ‘Red List 2019’ assessed as ‘Least Concern’. The gallery includes four Australian endemics: Eastern Yellow Robin, Pale-yellow Robin, Stewart Island Robin, and South Island Tomtit. The two images of the Eastern Yellow Robin feature the nominate and chrysorrhos subspecies together with both sexes of the Stewart Island Robin.

Tits

Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus obscurus) perched in a Yateley Garden

Great Tit (Parus major newtoni) perched with insect in a Yateley Garden

Great Tit (Parus major newtoni) juvenile in a Yateley Garden

Great Tit (Parus major newtoni) chick ready to fledge from nest box in a Yateley Garden

Great Tit (Parus major newtoni) fledgeling in a Yateley Garden

Great Tit (Parus major newtoni) perched with a caterpillar in a Yateley Garden

Great Tit (Parus major newtoni) flying to nest box with a caterpillar in a Yateley Garden

Great Tit (Parus major newtoni) returning to nest box with a caterpillar in a Yateley Garden

Tits Notes

All the photos are from my garden where I have provided several nest boxes. Both blue and great tits have nest successfully although I am not always around to them fledge. The success rate varies from year to year. When I clean out the boxes in late autumn, I sometimes find unhated eggs and occasionally a dead chick.

Australasian Robins and Tits Taxonomy

The figure shows a simplified family tree that only includes taxonomy relevant to the Australasian Robins and Tits photo album. Corvida is the sister group of Passerida.

J Boyd’s Taxonomy in Flux Checklist places:
(a) The Australasian Robins (Petroicidae) family in superfamily Callaeoidea under Basal Passerida.
(b) And Tits (Parinae) subfamily which is part of Tits, Chickadees, and Titmice (Paridae), superfamily Paroidea under Passerida.

Some authorities place Australasian Robins (Petroicidae) in superfamily Corvoidea and Tits (Paridae/Parinae) in Sylvioidea.