Indian Robin
Encyclopedia
The Indian Robin is a species of bird
in the Muscicapidae family.
It is widespread in South Asia found in Bangladesh
, Bhutan
, India
, Nepal
, Pakistan
, and Sri Lanka
. The males of northern populations have a brown back whose extent gradually reduces southwards with populations in the southern peninsula having an all black back. They are commonly found in open scrub areas and often seen running along the ground or perching on low thorny shrubs and rocks. Their long tails are held erect and their chestnut undertail covert and dark body make them easily distinguishable from the Pied Bushchat
and the Oriental Magpie Robin
.
Several populations are named based on their plumage differences. The nominate subspecies refers to the population found across southern Peninsular India. Race leucopterus is found in Sri Lanka
. Race cambaiensis of western India and erythrura (=erythrurus) of eastern India (south to around Sambalpur) have the males with brown backs. The population intermedius includes forms between cambaiensis, erythrura and fulicata in central India and parts of the Deccan region. A race munda was named for a specimen from Punjab but is now considered synonymous with cambaiensis. Older classifications treat the population in southern India under the name ptymatura while considering the type locality as Sri Lanka although the type locality has subsequently been restricted to Pondicherry.
Local names recorded by Jerdon
include Nalanchi (Telugu), Wannatikuruvi (Tamil, Washerman bird), Kalchuri (Hindi). The genus name indicates that it looks similar to Saxicola, the genus of the Pied Bushchat
, a bird often found in similar habitats.
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The species was introduced into the New York region but did not establish. A vagrant or escape has been noted from the Maldives.
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The breeding season is December to September but varies according to region and usually begins with the first rains. Peak breeding in northern India is in June and is earlier in Southern India. In Sri Lanka it breeds in March to June and August to September. Males sing during this season and display by lowering and spreading their tail feathers and strutting around the female, displaying their sides and fluffing their undertail coverts. Males will drive away other males and patrol their territory by flying with slow wing-beats from perch to perch. They may sometimes peck at their reflections. An aggressive display involves fluffing up the feathers and holding the bill high.
Nests are built between rocks, in holes in walls or in a tree hollow. Nests are lined with animal hair and it has been noted that many nests have pieces of snake sloughs. The eggs are of regular oval form, but many are elongated and a few pointed. They have a fair amount of gloss. The ground-colour is white, often tinged with faint green or pink, and this is rather closely spotted, speckled, streaked, and mottled, with rich reddish or umber-brown and brownish yellow, with some underlying lavender. The markings are denser at the larger end of the egg, where they form an irregular cap. Some eggs are blotched with dark reddish brown at the large end. Eggs measure from .76 to .84 in length, and from .55 to .62 in breadth. Three to four eggs is the usual clutch. An abnormal clutch of seven has been noted although none of the eggs hatched at this nest. Only the female incubates. Eggs hatch in about 10–12 days. Chicks have black down. Both males and females feed the young, the males sometimes passing food to the female which in turn feeds the young. Nestlings may feign dead (thanatosis) when handled. Nestlings may be preyed on by the Rufous Treepie
. The same nest site may be reused in subsequent years.
An old anecdotal record of these birds laying their eggs in the nests of Turdoides
babblers has not been supported by later observers. Laboratory studies have demonstrated cyclic changes in the melanin
pigmentation of the tissue surrounding the testes. The dark pigmentation is lost during the breeding season and regained later.
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
in the Muscicapidae family.
It is widespread in South Asia found in Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. The males of northern populations have a brown back whose extent gradually reduces southwards with populations in the southern peninsula having an all black back. They are commonly found in open scrub areas and often seen running along the ground or perching on low thorny shrubs and rocks. Their long tails are held erect and their chestnut undertail covert and dark body make them easily distinguishable from the Pied Bushchat
Pied Bushchat
The Pied Bushchat is a small passerine bird found ranging from West and Central Asia to South and Southeast Asia. About sixteen subspecies are recognized through its wide range with many island forms...
and the Oriental Magpie Robin
Oriental Magpie Robin
The Oriental Magpie Robin is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but now considered an Old World flycatcher. They are distinctive black and white birds with a long tail that is held upright as they forage on the ground or perch conspicuously...
.
Description
The Indian Robin is sexually dimorphic in plumage with the main being mainly black with a white shoulder patch or stripe whose visible extent can vary with posture. The northern populations have the upper plumage brownish while the southern populations are black above. The males have chestnut undertail coverts and these are visible as the bird usually holds the 6–8 cm long tail raised upright. The females are brownish above, have no white shoulder stripe and are greyish below with the vent a paler shade of chestnut than the males. Birds of the northern populations are larger than those from southern India or Sri Lanka. Juvenile birds are much like females but the throat is mottled.Several populations are named based on their plumage differences. The nominate subspecies refers to the population found across southern Peninsular India. Race leucopterus is found in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. Race cambaiensis of western India and erythrura (=erythrurus) of eastern India (south to around Sambalpur) have the males with brown backs. The population intermedius includes forms between cambaiensis, erythrura and fulicata in central India and parts of the Deccan region. A race munda was named for a specimen from Punjab but is now considered synonymous with cambaiensis. Older classifications treat the population in southern India under the name ptymatura while considering the type locality as Sri Lanka although the type locality has subsequently been restricted to Pondicherry.
Local names recorded by Jerdon
Thomas C. Jerdon
Thomas Caverhill Jerdon was a British physician, zoologist and botanist. He is best remembered for his pioneering works on the ornithology of India...
include Nalanchi (Telugu), Wannatikuruvi (Tamil, Washerman bird), Kalchuri (Hindi). The genus name indicates that it looks similar to Saxicola, the genus of the Pied Bushchat
Pied Bushchat
The Pied Bushchat is a small passerine bird found ranging from West and Central Asia to South and Southeast Asia. About sixteen subspecies are recognized through its wide range with many island forms...
, a bird often found in similar habitats.
Distribution and habitat
This bird is found in open stony, grassy and scrub forest habitats. They are mainly found in dry habitats and are mostly absent from the thicker forest regions and high rainfall areas. All populations are resident and non-migratory. The species is often found close to human habitation and will frequently perch on rooftops.Ecology
Population densities of 193-240 individuals per square km have been estimated in the Pondicherry University campus. The ratio of males to females was about 1.5:1. Territory size for males is estimated at about 6650 m2. Males can be aggressive to others during the breeding season and will even attack reflections. Human activities such as felling and firewood removal in forests appear to benefit them.Food
They feed mostly on insects but are known to take frogs and lizards especially when feeding young at the nest. Individuals may forage late in the evening to capture insects attracted to lights.Breeding
Nests are built between rocks, in holes in walls or in a tree hollow. Nests are lined with animal hair and it has been noted that many nests have pieces of snake sloughs. The eggs are of regular oval form, but many are elongated and a few pointed. They have a fair amount of gloss. The ground-colour is white, often tinged with faint green or pink, and this is rather closely spotted, speckled, streaked, and mottled, with rich reddish or umber-brown and brownish yellow, with some underlying lavender. The markings are denser at the larger end of the egg, where they form an irregular cap. Some eggs are blotched with dark reddish brown at the large end. Eggs measure from .76 to .84 in length, and from .55 to .62 in breadth. Three to four eggs is the usual clutch. An abnormal clutch of seven has been noted although none of the eggs hatched at this nest. Only the female incubates. Eggs hatch in about 10–12 days. Chicks have black down. Both males and females feed the young, the males sometimes passing food to the female which in turn feeds the young. Nestlings may feign dead (thanatosis) when handled. Nestlings may be preyed on by the Rufous Treepie
Rufous Treepie
The Rufous Treepie is an Asian treepie, a member of the Corvidae family. It is long tailed and has loud musical calls making it very conspicuous. It is found commonly in open scrub, agricultural areas, forests as well as urban gardens...
. The same nest site may be reused in subsequent years.
An old anecdotal record of these birds laying their eggs in the nests of Turdoides
Turdoides
Turdoides is a genus of passerine birds in the Old World babbler family, Timaliidae. It contains about 29 species distributed across Africa and southern Asia. They are typically fairly large, long-tailed birds which forage in noisy groups...
babblers has not been supported by later observers. Laboratory studies have demonstrated cyclic changes in the melanin
Melanin
Melanin is a pigment that is ubiquitous in nature, being found in most organisms . In animals melanin pigments are derivatives of the amino acid tyrosine. The most common form of biological melanin is eumelanin, a brown-black polymer of dihydroxyindole carboxylic acids, and their reduced forms...
pigmentation of the tissue surrounding the testes. The dark pigmentation is lost during the breeding season and regained later.
Other sources
- George,JC (1963) Some observations on the breeding behaviour of the Indian Robin, Saxicoloides fulicata (Linnaeus). Pavo 1(2):71-78.
- Magon, VK (1979) Distribution of acid phosphatase in the digestive system of two Indian birds, Uroloncha malabarica and Saxicoloides fulicata. Pavo 17(1&2):27-32.
- Rajvanshi,G; Gupta,MM; Yeshowardhana; Singh, VS (1985) Histochemical localization of calcium and iron in the gonad of male Indian Robin (Saxicoloides fulicata). Pavo 23(1&2):31-36.
- Rajvanshi,G; Gupta,MM; Bhatnagar,VK; Bhatnagar, Sumar (1985) Cyclic changes in Carbohydrate localization in gonad of male Indian Robin Saxicoloides fulicata (Linn.). Pavo 23(1&2):41-46.
- Gupta,MM; Rajvanshi,G; Singh, VS (1986) Histochemical localization of proteins and Tryptophane aminoacid in testis of Indian Robin Saxicoloides fulicata (Linn.). Pavo 24(1&2):69-76.