''Petroica'' is a genus of
Australasian robins, named for their red and pink markings. They are not closely related to the
European robins nor the
American robins.
The genus was introduced by the English naturalist,
William Swainson
William Swainson Fellow of the Linnean Society, FLS, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, Malacology, malacologist, Conchology, conchologist, entomologist and artist.
Life
Swains ...
, in 1829, with the
Norfolk robin (''Petroica multicolor'') as the
type species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
. The generic name combines the
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
''petro-'' "rock" with ''oikos'' "home".
Many species in Australia have a red breast and are known colloquially as "red robins" as distinct from the "yellow robins" of the genus ''
Eopsaltria''.
Species and subspecies
The genus contains the following 14 species:
References
* Del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Christie D. (editors). (2006). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions.
Further reading
*
External links
*
*
Bird genera
Taxa named by William Swainson
{{Petroicidae-stub