The slaty robin (''Peneothello cyanus''), also known as the blue-grey robin, is a species of bird in the family

Petroicidae The bird family Petroicidae includes 51 species in 19 genera. All are endemic to Australasia: New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and numerous Pacific Islands as far east as Samoa. For want of an accurate common name, the family is often called th ...

, present in the

New Guinea Highlands The New Guinea Highlands, also known as the Central Range or Central Cordillera, is a long chain of mountain ranges on the island of New Guinea, including the island's highest peak, Puncak Jaya, Indonesia, , the highest mountain in Oceania. The r ...

and sparsely in the island's northern areas. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

s. Described by Italian naturalist

Tommaso Salvadori Count Adelardo Tommaso Salvadori Paleotti (30 September 1835 – 9 October 1923) was an Italian zoologist and ornithologist. Biography Salvadori was born in Porto San Giorgio, son of Count Luigi Salvadori and Ethelyn Welby, who was English. His ...

in 1874, the slaty robin is a member of the Australasian robin family

.* Sibley and

Ahlquist Ahlquist is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Jon Edward Ahlquist (1944–2020), American molecular biologist and ornithologist *Lloyd Ahlquist (born 1977), American comedian/musician * Raymond P. Ahlquist (1914–1983), American ...

's DNA-DNA hybridisation studies placed this group in a

Corvida The "Corvida" were one of two "parvorders" contained within the suborder Passeri, as proposed in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, the other being Passerida. Standard taxonomic practice would place them at the rank of infraorder. More recent res ...

parvorder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...

comprising many tropical and Australian passerines including pardalotes, fairy-wrens, honeyeaters, and crows. However, subsequent molecular research (and current consensus) places the robins as a very early offshoot of the

Passerida Passerida is, under the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, one of two parvorders contained within the suborder Passeri (standard taxonomic practice would place them at the rank of infraorder). While more recent research suggests that its sister parvorde ...

(or "advanced" songbirds), within the

songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5,00 ...

lineage. Measuring , the slaty robin has fairly uniform blue-grey plumage, which is slightly lighter underneath and slightly darker on the cheeks and face. The tail and flight feathers are grey-black. The bill and feet are black, and the eyes are dark brown. The slaty robin is found in the highlands of New Guinea from altitudes of . Within the rainforest it is found in pairs in the

understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the Canopy (biology), forest ca ...

or on the ground. It is insectivorous, and hunts by gleaning. It eats ants, beetles, and thyonnid wasps. The nest is a deep cup made of rootlets and lined with moss, and is generally placed in a tree fork around above the ground. One or two pale-greenish or olive eggs, splotched with olive or brown, are laid, and measure 23.5 mm x 17–19 mm.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1590830 slaty robin Birds of the New Guinea Highlands Endemic birds of New Guinea slaty robin Taxonomy articles created by Polbot