Bird profile - Flame Robin

Flame Robin, Petroica phoenicea male and female

Flame Robin, Scarlet Robin, Rose Robin and Pink Robin are all ‘red’ robins that can be found in Gippsland. Once-upon-a-time we used to see Red-capped Robins and Hooded Robins but they have all but disappeared from these parts now.

The Flame Robin is quickly identified separately from its more familiar Scarlet Robin cousin in that its flame red belly and breast extends right up under the chin, the upper parts are grey-brown, not black, it is a little larger and stands taller and is generally found in much more open country.

Classed as altitudinal migrants, at the moment Flame Robins have come down from the high country. Some have even come across Bass Strait from Tasmania to spend winter in the ‘warmer’ lowlands. You might see one in open farmland adjoining bush on the edge of Drouin – Pryor Rd, Higgs and Walton Rds, Gardner and Holman Rd, Old Princes Highway, etc. Westernport Bay, Phillip Island and Bass Coast are good nearby places to see this wonderful little bird too.

Flame Robins are insectivorous ‘flycatchers’ that spend much of their time snapping up insects very close to the ground in open areas, paddocks, parks, golf courses, etc. When they alight on a fence wire, thistle head or animal pat, the Flame Robin will flick its wings from time to time while it scans the ground for its next morsel.

They are often in family parties containing one adult male and several ‘brown birds’ that are the females and juveniles for the season. 

Although generally considered common, the Flame Robin, which is endemic to the south-east corner of the continent, including Tasmania, is referred to as ‘near threatened’ in some texts.

Further reading: Flame Robin - Birdlife Australia