The Flame Robin is a vibrant Australian bird known for its striking orange-red chest and musical song.
Conservation Status in NSW: Vulnerable
Commonwealth Status: Not listed
This charming native bird’s bright colouration, upright perch and high-pitched musical trill song can help with identification and detection in the lowlands and are more often spotted in the post breeding period.
Listen to the Flame Robin sing.
Identification:
The Flame Robin is a small Australian robin reaching up to 14 cm in length. The male has a distinctive bright red-orange breast and throat with a white underbelly. The head of the male is dark slate grey with a small white forehead patch and white stripe on the folded wing and white tail edges. The bill is black while the legs are a dark brown.
The female robin is different from the male, being a mostly grey – brown colour with a lighter whiteish throat and underbelly and a white or pale buff on the wings and tail feathers. The white patch on the forehead is much less obvious than on the male. The beak and legs are similar to the male. A juvenile male resembles the adult female but the brown colour on the back is more heavily spotted with white and the pale underbelly is streaked with brown.
Habitat and Distribution:
The Flame Robin is endemic to south-eastern Australia, ranging from near the Queensland border to southeast South Australia and is also found in Tasmania.
Breeding in spring and summer the flame Robin can be found in upland tall moist eucalypt forests and woodland areas of NSW, often on ridges and slopes. In winter, these birds migrate to drier more open habitats in the lowlands living in dry forests, open woodlands and in pastures and native grasslands.
Breeding
The Flame Robin can have up to two clutches during their breeding season which falls between August and January. The eggs are laid in a grass and bark cup shaped nest using spiderweb and lichen to stabilise and decorate which is mostly built by the female. Typically, the nest will be built in tree forks and cavities or on rockface often up to 20 metres above ground. The blue and green eggs are spotted with brown marks and are mostly kept warm by the female who is fed by the male during the incubation period. Once the eggs are hatched both parents will feed the young.
Diet:
The diet of the Flame Robin includes a variety of insects, spiders and small arthropods. They will take the prey in the air, from foliage or bark or from the ground, pouncing on it from exposed outlooks, then return to a perch to eat it. The flame robin will often forage in pairs or small flocks, and when not breeding can join up with other birds in mixed feeding flocks.
Key Threats:
Loss or damage of habitat
- The robin’s breeding and winter homes are being cleared or degraded. This includes removal of trees, understorey, logs and leaf litter, things they need for shelter, nesting and food.
- In winter they also need open grassland or paddocks with scattered trees; when those get changed (e.g. turned into crops or heavily grazed pasture) the robin suffers.
Loss of nest, food and foraging sites
- They depend on dead timber, fallen logs, rough pasture and ground litter for hunting insects and nesting. When grazing, firewood collection or “tidying up” removes these features, habitat becomes poorer.
- Dense regrowth after fire or disturbance can make habitat unsuitable because the open understorey they like disappears.
Predation and competition
- The robin faces increased egg or chick predation by large native birds, for example the Pied Currawong and may be excluded by abundant other birds such as the Noisy Miner that dominate habitat and push out smaller birds.
Habitat fragmentation and degradation at fine scale
- Small patches of habitat (especially less than 10 ha) surrounded by cropping or heavy grazing become isolated and less useful.
- The structural complexity of the habitat (tree canopy, understorey shrubs, ground cover, logs) is reduced. This makes it much harder for the robin to breed and forage.
What can you do?
A targeted strategy is currently in developed under the Saving Our Species program to protect the Flame Robin. Some actions we can take to help the robin thrive include:
Keep habitat natural – Leave fallen logs, leaf litter and rough ground cover in place. These create food and shelter for small woodland birds.
Plant natives – Add a mix of shrubs, small trees and groundcovers to create healthier bird habitat.
Avoid over-grazing and over-mowing – Allow some areas of longer grass and natural debris to remain, especially near bushland.
Protect scattered trees – Mature trees and paddock trees are important stepping stones across the landscape.
Reduce “tidying up” – Keeping some natural mess supports insects the robins rely on for food.
Support bird-friendly spaces – Encourage vegetation that breaks up large open areas to reduce aggressive birds like Noisy Miners.
Look after fire-affected areas – Let vegetation recover naturally and avoid unnecessary clearing after fire.
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