• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note

Petroica multicolor, P. pusilla and P. boodang (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) were previously lumped as P. multicolor following Sibley & Monroe (1990, 1993). Conventionally considered conspecific with P. boodang, and until recently with P. pusilla, but recently shown to be most closely related to distinctive P. goodenovii (Kearns et al. 2015). Differs from P. pusilla in its (from limited available material) much larger size (significantly longer bill, wing and tail; also not sexually dimorphic in size) (allow 3); larger white forehead patch in male (1); and (from limited available recordings) much lower-pitched and differently structured song (allow 3); further research, involving comprehensive review of evidence, needed to confirm this diagnosis. Monotypic.

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	C2a(ii)	B1ab(v)+2ab(v); C2a(i,ii); D1

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2023	Endangered	C2a(ii)
2016	Endangered	C2a(ii)
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	13 g

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	60 km2
Area of Occupancy (breeding/resident)	60 km2
Number of locations	10-100	-
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	700-800, 750 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2018
Population trend	decreasing	-	estimated	-
Generation length	3.37 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: There were estimated to be 750 mature Norfolk Island Robins in the park in 2018 (~375 pairs; Dawlings and Clarke unpublished, in Nance et al. 2020) compared with 380–440 (760–880 mature individuals) pairs in 1996 and 520 pairs (1,040 mature individuals) in 1987 (Robinson 1997).

Trend justification: The population was estimated at 1,040 mature individuals in 1987, 760-880 in 1996 and 750 in 2018 (Robinson 1997, Nance et al. 2020). Although the surveys have been at long intervals, a precautionary approach is to assume a gradual decline (Nance et al. 2020). Standard distance sampling approaches do not provide valid results because the robins are attracted to the observer (Dutson 2013). However, an extremely low nest survival rate of 1.7% (using field data collected over the period October–December 2017) in unbaited areas suggested potentially rapid declines. Under a scenario where the allocation of rodent-baiting resources replicates the reduced baiting scheme that operated in the period September–December 2017, the projected probability of persistence was 96% ± 0.01%, however, with a projected population decline of 55% within five years and 50 ± 1.5 individuals remaining after 20 years (Nance et al. 2020). However, as monitoring (to October 2019) does not currently support such steep declines, the species is not thought to qualify for listing as threatened under Criterion A and the species is estimated to be declining gradually (Nance et al. 2020).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Norfolk Island (to Australia)	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	marginal	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 300 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Small-holder farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Unlikely to Return		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Unlikely to Return		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Unlikely to Return		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Climate change & severe weather	Droughts	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Whole (>90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Named species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Psidium cattleyanum	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Norfolk Island Robin Petroica multicolor. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/norfolk-island-robin-petroica-multicolor on 22/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/12/2024.