Flame Robin - Distribution and Habitat

Distribution and Habitat

The Flame Robin is found in temperate regions of southeastern Australia and all over Tasmania, although it is less common in the southwest and west. In Victoria, it is more common in uplands than lower altitudes. It ranges from the Adelaide and Murray Plains around the mouth of the Murray River in southeastern South Australia, across Victoria and into the South West Slopes and southern regions of New South Wales. Further north, it is found along the Great Dividing Range and its western slopes, with a few records from southeast Queensland. Within its range, it is generally migratory, moving from alpine and subalpine regions to lowlands in winter, although the breeding and non-breeding ranges overlap. There is some evidence that male birds migrate several days before females. It is unclear what proportion of Tasmanian birds cross Bass Strait to winter in Victoria. Birds which remain in Tasmania move away from breeding areas and are found in paddocks in loose flocks of up to fourteen birds. They have left these areas by August, and immature birds appear to disperse earlier. A field study in the outer Melbourne suburb of Langwarrin showed that climate did not influence peak abundance of Flame Robins there. The international organization BirdLife International has regraded it from Least Concern to Near Threatened in 2004 due to its population decline over the previous 25 years. The Australian Government had classified it as Least Concern, but noted evidence of decline at the edges of its non-breeding range; it has become rare in South Australia and Victoria. Flame robins are not rare in Victoria. They are frequently encountered at high elevations on the Great Dividing Range, especially in sparser snow gum woodland and similar habitat, and during the summer breeding season are one of the most reliably observed species around the summit of Mount Macedon, NW of Melbourne.

In spring and summer, the Flame Robin is more often found in wet eucalypt forest in hilly or mountainous areas, particularly the tops and slopes, to an elevation of 1800 m (6000 ft). It generally prefers areas with more clearings and less understory. In particular it prefers tall forests dominated by such trees as snow gum (Eucalyptus pauciflora), mountain ash ( E. regnans), alpine ash (E. delegatensis), manna gum (E. viminalis), messmate stringybark (E. obliqua), black gum (E. aggregata), white mountain gum (E. dalrympleana), brown barrel (E. fastigata), narrow-leaved peppermint (E. radiata), and black peppermint (E. amygdalina). It is occasionally encountered in temperate rainforest. In the autumn and winter, birds move to more open areas such as grasslands and open woodlands, such as those containing river red gum (E. camaldulensis), Blakely's red gum (E. blakelyi), yellow box (E. melliodora), grey box (E. microcarpa), and mugga ironbark (E. sideroxylon), at lower altitude.

Flame Robins often become more abundant in areas recently burnt by bushfires, but move away once the undergrowth regrows. They may also move into logged or cleared areas in forests. However, a field study in the Boola Boola State Forest in central Gippsland revealed they are not found in areas where the regrowth after logging is dense.