page_title: Buff-sided robin
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Buff-sided robin / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Buff-sided robin fledgling near Borroloola NT 2006
context_page_description: The buff-sided robin is a small, diurnal, insectivorous, perching bird in the family Petroicidae, a group commonly known as the Australo-Papuan or Australasian robins. It is also known as the buff-sided fly-robin, buff-sided shrike-robin and Isabellflankenschnäpper. The buff-sided robin is endemic to northern Australia, where it primarily occurs in riparian forests and monsoon vine thickets from the Kimberly region of Western Australia to the north-west Queensland Gulf of Carpentaria. The plumage of the adult birds is characterised by a dark hood and back with a prominent white stripe on the supercilium, a white throat, white wing and tail bars, and a striking buff to orange patch on the flank below the wings. Adult birds are not sexually dimorphic; however, males are generally larger and can be separated from females based on morphological measurements. Buff-sided robins predominantly take insects from the ground by sallying from an observational perch. Insect prey are also occasionally taken by hawking on the wing or by gleaning from the trunk or foliage of riparian vegetation.
context_section_description: The buff-sided robin is a medium- to large-sized robin species, with body length ranging from 16 to 18 cm (6.3 to 7.1 in). Adult buff-sided robins are not sexually dimorphic, and the sexes cannot be differentiated on the basis of plumage. However, males are generally larger than females with very little overlap for weight, head length, bill length, tarsus and wing cord length; and sexing criteria can be developed on the basis of combined morphological measurements.
  Based on data from museum specimen labels, adult wingspans range from 84 to 93 mm (3.3 to 3.7 in) (n=22) in male birds to 77 to 85 mm (3.0 to 3.3 in) in female birds (n=17). Adult male buff-sided robins weigh between 20.0 to 25.5 g (0.71 to 0.90 oz) (n=13), and females weigh between 15.5 to 20.3 g (0.55 to 0.72 oz) (n=10). Adult tarsus length ranges from 20.4 to 24.0 mm (0.80 to 0.94 in) (n=22) in male birds to 18.6 to 20.7 mm (0.73 to 0.81 in) in female birds (n=17).
caption: Juvenile plumage
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