Wild Bird Wednesday 72 - Eastern Yellow Robin

While most birds called "robins" have a red breast, just to be different these guys have a yellow one.  In fact these birds are not that closely related to the Robins I grew up with.  I assume that the similarity of form is a product of convergent evolution.  (Sorry, I should have issued a science warning!).

As you may have gathered by now I am more than normally interested in the way things are named.  I think that the names we give things can alter the way we see them - call a bird a robin and a Brit will expect to come and feed in the freshly stirred earth of a garden flower bed.

These are Eastern Yellow Robins - Eopsaltria australis - and while common, I find them a rather secretive bird - not one that sits on still warm garden fork handles.  These birds seemed very fond of sitting in places with rather bad light!

The first set were taken in a mix of bright light and deep shadow on the side of a path near Lorne, and the second set taken in rather deep shade in suburban Melbourne.  You can see that the second bird has a green plastic band - up until this point I have not been able to find out who is (or has been) studying these birds.

Note green leg band

Note green leg band

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