#buff-sided robin

Found in parts of northern Australia, these robins live in dense vegetation, usually near rivers. They eat mostly invertebrates, along with some seeds, usually dropping onto their prey from a perch, sometimes capturing it in flight or picking it from foliage. Breeding from October to March, they may raise two broods in a year. Females weave the cup-shaped nests from rootlets, tendrils, bark, and other materials.

Photo credit: Nick Bonomo via Macaulay Library

This Buff-sided Robin (Poecilodryas cervineventris) emerged from vine scrub next to the Cox River in Limmen National Park to look for insects in burnt scrub during our visit last week.   What a treat to see this charming and cheeky little bird for the first time. While it can be found in riverine habitat from the southern Gulf of Carpentaria coast to the Kimerbleys it is local, patchy and generally uncommon.