New Zealand: South Island robin
When we walked along a shaded trail at the Orokonui Ecosanctuary on February 27th we came upon a bird that hopped about and flitted around close to us without seeming afraid. I later learned from head guide Sue Hensley that the bird was a South Island robin, Petroica australis. The behavior we observed is confirmed (and much more information is added) at New Zealand Birds Online: “Where robins are regularly exposed to people, such as along public walking tracks, they become quite confiding, often approaching to within a metre of a person sitting quietly. Juveniles will sometimes stand on a person’s boot.”
© 2017 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
A grand capture! A NZ forest is a special place….
philipcambodia
May 29, 2017 at 7:53 AM
It is indeed. If only more of the native forest were still with us…
Steve Schwartzman
May 29, 2017 at 9:00 AM
I’ve had a NZ South Island robin sit on my boot. I figured it was checking me out to add to its “Life List”. Nan
Emma N Hampton
May 29, 2017 at 9:03 AM
Great way to put it, Nan. Thanks for your testimonial about the bird’s friendliness—the same behavior mentioned in New Zealand Birds Online.
Steve Schwartzman
May 29, 2017 at 10:56 PM
what a beauty
DailyMusings
May 29, 2017 at 9:15 AM
And a friendly one, at that.
Steve Schwartzman
May 29, 2017 at 10:34 PM
Thanks for the birdie uplift. Reminds me of the jays in Florida who will also perch on people’s heads, if convenient.
Shannon
May 29, 2017 at 9:43 AM
I’d like to see one of those head-topping jays.
Steve Schwartzman
May 29, 2017 at 10:35 PM
Though this isn’t the post where I initially learned about it, there is a ‘selfie’ of the photographer with a Florida Scrub Jay on his. Must have made his day!
http://wp.me/p5Ab4M-2
Shannon
May 30, 2017 at 8:00 PM
Now that looks like a proper Robin (in shape and size if not in colour), not like the US version at all.
theresagreen
May 29, 2017 at 10:37 AM
Right. I grew up in New York, where American robins were among the most common birds.
Steve Schwartzman
May 29, 2017 at 10:44 PM
It’s interesting that the European, American, and New Zealand robins are different genera. I must say, each has its charms. This one’s coloration and interesting feathers certainly set it apart: as does its friendliness. Its behavior reminds me of our chickadees, who can be trained to hand-feed rather easily.
Since there are references to the robin in England and Europe as far back as the 1700s (“Who Killed Cock Robin?”) and even earlier, I’m wondering if the name wasn’t carried to the Americas and New Zealand by emigrants. That would explain the same common name for the different birds.
shoreacres
May 29, 2017 at 10:17 PM
I’m pretty sure you’re right. Sometimes an extra qualifier was added to show that despite the similarities the animals or plants in question were different. As a result, here we have an American robin (genus Turdus) and in New Zealand a South Island robin (genus Petroica). In the world of plants, England has a bishop’s weed and Texas has a prairie bishop’s weed.
Steve Schwartzman
May 29, 2017 at 10:53 PM
Very cute little fellow! And I liked in the description “they become quite confiding,” I’m sure in the sense of “trusting,” but which made me think, they hop up with some small private matter they want to share with you. Tipping you off about an impending rise in the cost of earthworms perhaps.
Robert Parker Teel
May 30, 2017 at 2:08 PM
Thanks for confiding in us with your interpretation of “confiding.” I’m glad the robin had confidence in me as a photographer.
Steve Schwartzman
May 30, 2017 at 10:20 PM
Beautiful shot Steve
norasphotos4u
May 30, 2017 at 7:52 PM
I was fortunate to have this bird near me and fortunate to have a long enough lens to take advantage of the opportunity.
Steve Schwartzman
May 30, 2017 at 10:24 PM
How wonderful! Just like an infrared version of our European Robin. Or at least what I imagine my robin photos would look like if I did an infrared black and white conversion! I didn’t know that these existed in NZ so it’s lovely to see 😀
Sarah Longes - Mirador Design
May 31, 2017 at 3:12 PM
I used black and white infrared film extensively from the late 1970s into the 1980s. Now I’m generally fond of color. At the same time, I admit that the color in this photograph isn’t in its subject.
Steve Schwartzman
June 1, 2017 at 7:50 AM
I’ve never used infrared myself but love seeing some of the amazing landscape images done with it! It was weird seeing a robin without a red breast 😉
Sarah Longes - Mirador Design
June 10, 2017 at 6:41 AM
I’ve shown two of my old infrared photographs in this blog:
https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2013/07/04/july-iv-mdcclxxvi/
https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2012/01/13/cedar/
Like you, I’m used to a robin with a red breast.
Steve Schwartzman
June 10, 2017 at 7:00 PM
I just love the way plants and trees become ghost-like in IR!! Such lovely shots Steve 🙂 I know your robin has a red breast too but it’s a very different shaped bird being of the thrush family! It was spooky to see the actual robin shape and the marking outlines in a totally different colour 😉
Sarah Longes - Mirador Design
June 19, 2017 at 6:30 PM
The infrared photograph of the juniper tree is one of my favorites from four decades ago. I still remember the circumstances of its taking.
Thanks for pointing out that the American robin is in the thrush family. I see that the European robin is an Old World flycatcher. Oh, the ambiguity of common names.
Steve Schwartzman
June 19, 2017 at 6:42 PM
When walking forest trails here in NZ the robin is indeed a curious and delightful little bird.
exploringcolour
June 8, 2017 at 4:29 PM
That was my experience at Orokonui. I wish I’d had the chance to walk more forest trails in NZ.
Steve Schwartzman
June 8, 2017 at 9:26 PM
[…] not with one stone or several, but with a camera, of course. The other bird that I managed to get a picture of at the Orokonui Ecosanctuary northeast of Dunedin on February […]
New Zealand: shooting two birds | Portraits of Wildflowers
June 14, 2017 at 5:01 AM
Wow, great up close photo of this little fellow.
Gurn
June 27, 2017 at 9:21 PM
On each of my two trips to New Zealand I got several good pictures of birds. My New Zealand bird quota is higher than my American one.
Steve Schwartzman
June 27, 2017 at 10:00 PM
Time to get out in your homeland 😊
Gurn
June 27, 2017 at 10:14 PM
I spend a huge amount more time outdoors here than I ever could in New Zealand. Over the years I’ve occasionally gotten some good bird pictures in central Texas and other parts of the United States, but the frequency in New Zealand was higher. Maybe it was the thrill of the new.
Steve Schwartzman
June 27, 2017 at 10:26 PM