Editing Flame robin (section)

==Behaviour==
[[File:Petroica phoenicea 2 - Goat's Beach.jpg|thumb|Flame robin near Goat's Beach, Tasmania, Australia]]
The flame robin mostly breeds in and around the [[Great Dividing Range]], the Tasmanian highlands, and islands in Bass Strait.<ref name=Ber03/> With the coming of cooler autumn weather, most birds disperse to lower and warmer areas, some travelling as far as eastern [[South Australia]], southern Queensland, or (in the case of some Tasmanian birds) across Bass Strait to Victoria. Birds breeding in the warmer climates north of the [[Blue Mountains (New South Wales)|Blue Mountains]] in [[New South Wales]] tend to retain their highland territories all year round. Outside the breeding season, birds may congregate in loose flocks, but they are most usually encountered throughout the year singly or in pairs, the latter more commonly in breeding season.<ref name=Higgins672>Higgins ''et al.'', p. 672.</ref>

When perched or between bouts of foraging on the ground, the flame robin holds itself in a relatively upright pose, with its body angled at 45° or less from the vertical, and its wings held low below its tail. It impresses as nervous and twitchy, flicking its wings alternately when still. The flame robin's flight is fast, with a markedly undulating character.<ref name=Higgins667/><!-- cites previous three sentences-->

The flame robin is [[territory (animal)|territorial]], defending its territory against other members of its species, and also against scarlet robins where they co-occur. In [[Nimmitabel, New South Wales|Nimmitabel]] in southern New South Wales, migratory flame robins invaded and eked out their territories from amid existing scarlet robin territories. Once settled, however, no species dominated over the other and stable boundaries emerged.<ref name="robinson89">{{cite journal|doi = 10.1071/MU9890093|last = Robinson|first = Doug|year = 1989|title = Interspecific Aggression and Territorial Behavior Between Scarlet Robin ''Petroica multicolor'' and Flame Robin ''P. phoenicea''|journal = Emu|volume = 89|issue = 2|pages = 93–101| bibcode=1989EmuAO..89...93R }}</ref> The flame robin deploys a number of [[Agonistic behaviour|agonistic]] displays, including a breast-puffing display where it puffs its breast feathers, and a white spot display where it puffs its feathers to accentuate its frontal white spot, white wing markings or white outer tail feathers. They may also fly at intruders or sing to defend their territory.<ref name="robinson89"/>

===Courtship and breeding===
[[File:Flame robin (Petroica phoenicea) juvenile with insect South Bruny.jpg|thumb|Juvenile with insect]]
[[File:Flame Robin girraween.ogg|thumbtime=9|thumb|Male and female, Girraween National Park, southern Queensland]]
Several courtship behaviours have been recorded. Males have been recorded feeding females.<ref name=Higgins674>Higgins ''et al.'', p. 674.</ref><!-- cites previous two sentences --> A male flame robin either lands next to and moves a female off her perch, or flies in front of her. Courting males also run to and fro in front of a female, in a crouch with wings and head lowered, and hiding their breast feathers. In both displays, the male proceeds to chase the female. Pairs are generally [[Monogamous pairing in animals|monogamous]], and remain together unless one bird perishes, although "divorces" have been recorded.<ref name="robinson90ibis">{{cite journal|last=Robinson|first=Doug|year=1990|title=The social organization of the Scarlet Robin ''Petroica multicolor'' and Flame Robin ''P. phoenicea'' in southeastern Australia: a comparison between sedentary and migratory flycatchers|journal=Ibis|volume=132|issue=1|pages=78–94|doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.1990.tb01018.x}}</ref><!-- cites previous four sentences -->

The breeding season is August to January with one or two broods raised.<ref name=Ber03/> The male proposes suitable nest sites to the female by hopping around the area. Unlike other robins, the female sometimes initiates the site selection. A pair spends anywhere from one to five days looking before finding a suitable site. The female constructs the nest alone.<ref name="robinson90"/> Eucalypts are generally chosen, but birds have been recorded nesting in ''[[Pinus radiata]]'' on [[Mount Wellington (Tasmania)|Mount Wellington]] in Tasmania. The flame robin is more versatile in its selection of nesting sites than other robins, and has even been recorded nesting in sheds.<ref name="chisholm60">{{cite journal|last=Chisholm|first=Alec H.|year=1960|title=Remarks on robins|journal=Emu|volume=60|issue=4|pages=221–35|doi=10.1071/MU960221|bibcode=1960EmuAO..60..221C }}</ref><!-- cites previous two sentences -->

The nest is a neat, deep cup made of soft dry grass, moss, and bark. [[Spider web]]s, feathers, and fur are used for binding/filling, generally in a tree fork or crevice, or cliff or riverbank ledge, typically within a few metres of the ground. The clutch generally numbers three or four dull white eggs, which are laid on consecutive days.<ref name=Higgins677>Higgins ''et al.'', p. 677.</ref> They are tinted bluish, greyish or brownish, and splotched with dark grey-brown, and measure 18&nbsp;mm x 14&nbsp;mm.<ref name=Ber03>{{cite book  | last = Beruldsen  | first = Gordon  | title = Australian Birds: Their Nests and Eggs  | publisher = self  | year = 2003  | location = Kenmore Hills, Queensland  | page = 341 | isbn = 0-646-42798-9}}</ref> A field study in open eucalypt forest at Nimmitabel found that flame robins and scarlet robins chose different sites to breed, the former in tree hollows and bark crevices, most commonly of ''Eucalyptus viminalis'' around {{convert|4|m|ft|abbr=on}} off the ground, and the latter more commonly in forks or on branches of ''E.&nbsp;pauciflora'' around {{convert|7|m|ft|abbr=on}} above the ground. Flame robins, which were migratory at the site, were more successful in raising young, but the success rate of scarlet robins in the area appeared to be poor compared with other sites.<ref name="robinson90"/>

[[Avian incubation|Incubation]] has been recorded as averaging around 17 days.<ref name="robinson90"/> Like all passerines, the chicks are [[altricial]]; they are born blind and naked, and start to develop [[down feather|down]] on their heads on day two. Their eyes open around day six, and they begin developing their primary flight feathers around day nine or ten.<ref name=Higgins678/> For the first three days after hatching, the mother feeds the nestlings alone, with food brought to her by the father. The father feeds them directly from the fourth day onwards, with the mother brooding them afterward until day seven.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1071/MU966347|author=Cooper, R. P.|year=1967|title=Unusual nesting sites of the Flame Robin|journal=Emu|volume=66|issue=4|pages=347–51|bibcode=1967EmuAO..66..347C }}</ref> Flies, butterflies, moths, caterpillars, and beetles predominate in the food fed to the young birds. Flame robins fed a higher proportion of flying insects to their young at Nimmitabel than did scarlet robins, which may have been due to their later start to breeding.<ref name="robinson90"/> Both parents participate in removing [[Fecal sac|faecal sacs]] from the nest.<ref name=cooper70>{{cite journal|title=The Flame robin on Wilson's Promontory| author=Cooper, R. P.|journal=Australian Bird Watcher |volume=3 |pages=227&ndash;35|year=1970}}</ref> Parents have been observed feeding young up to five weeks after leaving the nest.<ref name=Higgins678/>

The [[fan-tailed cuckoo]] (''Cacomantis flabelliformis'') and [[pallid cuckoo]] (''C.&nbsp;pallidus'') have been recorded as [[brood parasite]]s of the flame robin;<ref name=Higgins678/> female cuckoos lay their eggs in robin nests, which are then raised by the robins as their own. One fan-tailed cuckoo was recorded ejecting baby robins before being raised by its foster parents. Other nest predators recorded include the [[grey shrikethrush]] (''Colluricincla harmonica''), [[pied currawong]] (''Strepera graculina''), and [[eastern brown snake]] (''Pseudonaja textilis'').<ref name="robinson90"/><!-- cites both previous -->

===Feeding===
Like all [[Petroicidae|Australasian robins]], the flame robin is a perch and pounce hunter, mainly eating [[insect]]s, and often returning to a favourite low perch several times to stand erect and motionless, scanning the leaf-litter for more prey. They are typically seen in pairs (during the spring and summer breeding season) or in loose companies in more open country during winter, when they more commonly feed on the ground.<ref name=Higgins671>Higgins ''et al.'', p. 671.</ref><!-- cites para --> A field study in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales found no significant difference in foraging behaviour between male and female flame robins.<ref>{{cite journal|doi = 10.1071/MU9904|title = The Foraging Ecology of Birds of Eucalypt Forest and Woodland. I. Differences Between Males and Females|author1=Recher, Harry F. |author2=Holmes, Richard T. |journal = Emu|volume = 100|issue = 3|pages = 205–15|year = 2000| bibcode=2000EmuAO.100..205R |s2cid = 84430716}}</ref> Birds have been recorded foraging for insects in furrows in freshly ploughed fields.<ref name=North03/> In [[Deniliquin]], a flame robin was observed holding one foot forward and pattering the ground repeatedly to disturb ground-dwelling insects, and then watching and snapping up any which emerged; this behaviour is otherwise seen in [[wader]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1071/MU954278b|title=Flame Robin's 'Foot Pattering' Feeding Habit|author=Hobbs, John N. |journal=Emu|volume=54|issue=4|pages=278–79|year=1954|bibcode=1954EmuAO..54R.278H }}</ref>

Compared with the scarlet robin, the flame robin eats a higher proportion of flying insects. Biologist, Doug Robinson, has proposed that scarcity of flying insects in winter is a reason why the flame robin migrates.<ref name=RobCorella>{{cite journal|author=Robinson, Doug|year=1992|title=Why do Flame Robins ''Petroica phoenicea'' migrate? A comparison between the social and feeding ecologies of the Flame Robin and Scarlet Robin ''P. multicolor''. |journal=Corella|volume=16|pages=1–14}}</ref> They have been seen in [[Mixed-species feeding flock|mixed-species flocks]] with other small insectivorous passerines, such as scarlet robins, [[hooded robin]]s (''Melanodryas cucullata''), [[white-fronted chat]]s (''Epthianura albifrons''), and [[Australian pipit]]s (''Anthus australis'').<ref name=Higgins666/>

Among the types of insects consumed are many families of [[beetle]]s, [[wasp]]s, and ants, [[diptera|flies]] (families [[Horse-fly|Tabanidae]] and [[Asilidae]]), [[hemiptera|bugs]], and caterpillars. Other invertebrates eaten include [[spider]]s, [[millipede]]s and [[Oligochaeta|earthworms]].<ref name=Higgins672/> The flame robin consumes small prey items whole, and bashes larger victims against a hard surface repeatedly to break up before eating. The latter group constitute only 0.5% of prey over time—seasonally varying from a peak of 1.8% in autumn to a low of 0.2% of prey caught in winter.<ref name=RobCorella/>