Hooded Robin (Melanodryas cucullata cucullata)
Photo: Chris Wheaton
Description
- The Hooded Robin is a medium-large bird that grows between 14 cm to 17 cm.
- They have short and slender bills and square-tipped tail.
- Adult males have bold black and white feathers, and females are duller with a grey head, back and breast and brown wings.
- Young birds have spotted white and brown feathers.
- The Hooded Robin is a shy bird that mostly stays in one place.
- They don't form large flocks and usually seen in pairs or in small groups.
- They hunt for their food by using a ‘perch and pounce’ method in grassy clearings.
Find out more about the Hooded Robin on Canberra NatureMapr.
Where to find them
The Hooded Robin avoids dense forest and urban areas. They live in dry eucalypt forest, woodland and scrub, grasses and low shrub. Areas such as the Yellow Box–Red Gum Grassy Woodland are an important habitat. They prefer habitats that have:
- large trees for protective cover
- Fallen trees and dead stumps
- areas of grass that have insects and other invertebrates to eat
- perching sites within grassy areas
- trees or shrubs to provide sites for nesting.
In the ACT, the birds have been seen at:
- Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve
- Goorooyarroo Woodlands
- Newline Quarry
- Majura Field Firing Range
- Tharwa.
Conservation threats
Threats to the Hooded Robin include:
- fallen timber and litter removal
- falling prey to feral or uncontrolled domestic animals
- habitat invasion by introduced pasture and weeds
- unsuitable fire regimes
- uncontrolled grazing by livestock
- rural tree dieback
- use of agricultural chemicals.
Conservation status
- National – Endangered (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999).
- Australian Capital Territory – Endangered (Nature Conservation Act 2014).
Conservation actions
Conservation actions aim to:
- identify their main and potential habitats
- protect and manage their habitats
- prevent removal of live and dead timber, overgrazing, and adverse effects of fire
- maintain and connect habitats
- research their ecology and conservation requirements
- work with other states and territories toward a regional conservation approach
- monitor long-term trends and status
- educate and raise awareness with the community.