White-breasted Robin Eopsaltria georgiana Scientific name definitions

15–16·5 cm; male 19–22·5g, female 15–19 g. Has head  and upperparts sooty grey, lores black  ; upperwing sooty black, white patches across bases of inner primaries and secondaries (obscured on folded wing, visible as wingstripe in flight); tail dark grey with white tips on inner webs, tips narrow on central feathers and broadening towards outers, forming white corners of tail; chin, throat and underparts white, breast  with pale grey wash; iris dark brown; bill and legs black. Sexes similar. Juvenile has upperparts, breast and flanks rufous-brown with pale shaft streaks; immature similar to adult, but retains juvenile wing-coverts with pale streaks.

SW Australia: SW coastal region of Western Australia from N of Geraldton S, discontinuously, to region of Albany.

N population inhabits dense coastal thickets of acacia (Acacia) and paperbark (Melaleuca); S population occurs in wet eucalypt forest of karri (Eucalyptus diversicolor) and jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata), where it inhabits dense undergrowth and stream or gulley vegetation.

Insects and other small arthropods. Most prey captured by pouncing from an elevated perch  to ground (76% of attacks); also taken below 1 m (15%) and at 1–2 m (9%). Substrates exploited are ground  (76%), foliage (16%) and trunks and branches (5%), with remaining 3% of prey caught in air.

Song a whistled double note, “see-ow”. Alarm calls a single or double “chic” and grating “zhzhurr”; also a single repeated “zhip” and soft twitterings and whistles.

Season Jun–Jan; 2–3 clutches per season. Breeds as pair, but often up to three helpers at nest (mostly males); male and helpers feed breeding female. In courtship display, male cocks tail, fluffs out body feathers, and bows head and body while making excited calls. Nest built by female, a loose to tight cup of grass, fine twigs and rootlets, usually bound with spider web and decorated externally with moss and lichen, external diameter 9 cm, height 6 cm, internal diameter 5 cm, depth 2–3 mm; placed 0·5–10 m (usually c. 2·5 m) from ground in upright or slanting fork in dense undergrowth. Clutch 1–3 eggs  , usually 2, light olive-brown or olive-blue with faint reddish marks, average 21·3 × 15·6 mm; incubation by female, period 14–15 days; nestlings fed by male and by any helpers present, leave nest at 12–14 days; fledglings fed by all adults; adults and helpers perform distraction display by running on ground with wings spread. Nests parasitized by Pallid Cuckoo (Heteroscenes pallidus). Hatching success 63–80%, and 73–87% of hatchlings fledge, producing success rate of 0·9–1·32 young per nest; nest predators include cats and various birds. Longevity up to 12 years.

Not globally threatened. Restricted-range species: present in South-west Australia EBA. Common. Reaction to disturbance uncertain; in some studies this species showed a decline or a neutral response to fire. Generally most abundant c. 5 years after burning, and most abundant 6–12 years after cessation of logging activities.