The northern scrub robin (''Drymodes superciliaris'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family Petroicidae. It is found in northern

Cape York Peninsula The Cape York Peninsula is a peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth's last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación Sierra Madre, ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. It was found to be genetically distinct from the Papuan scrub robin, which were thought to be members of the same species. A putative subspecies ''D. s. colcloughi'', known as the Roper River scrub robin, was described by

Gregory Mathews Gregory Macalister Mathews CBE FRSE FZS FLS (10 September 1876 – 27 March 1949) was an Australian-born amateur ornithologist who spent most of his later life in England. Life He was born in Biamble in New South Wales the son of Robert H. M ...

in 1914 from specimens supposedly collected from the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

of Australia. However, there have been no further records from the area, the provenance of the specimens has been questioned, and the taxon is controversial.

References

northern scrub robin Birds of Cape York Peninsula northern scrub robin Taxa named by John Gould Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Petroicidae-stub