Black robin
Petroica traversi (Buller, 1872)
The black robin (Petroica traversi) is a species in the family Petroicidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh about 23.5 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable.
Quick facts about the black robin
- Weight
- 23.5 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the black robin live?
Not recorded
What is the black robin?
The black robin or Chatham Island robin (Moriori: karure, Māori: kakaruia; Petroica traversi) is an endangered bird from the Chatham Islands off the east coast of New Zealand. It is closely related to the South Island robin (P. australis). It was first described by Walter Buller in 1872. The binomial commemorates the New Zealand botanist Henry Travers (1844–1928). Unlike its mainland counterparts, its flight capacity is somewhat reduced. Evolution in the absence of mammalian predators made it vulnerable to introduced species, such as cats and rats, and it became extinct on the main island of the Chatham group before 1871, being restricted to Little Mangere Island and Rangatira Island thereafter.
From the Wikipedia article “Black robin” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black_robin&oldid=1377624180), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the black robin endangered?
The black robin is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species.
How is the black robin classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyPetroicidae
- genusPetroica
- SpeciesPetroica traversi (Buller, 1872)
Synonyms Miro traversi
Other names and names in other languages (44)
- Chatham island black robinEnglish
- Chatham island black robinEnglish
- Chatham island robinEnglish
- Chatham Islands robinEnglish
- Chatham Islands robinEnglish
- Chatham robinEnglish
- Chatham robinEnglish
- petroica negraCatalan
- Petroica de les illes ChathamCatalan
- lejsčík chathamskýCzech
- robin Ynys ChathamWelsh
- Chatham SangfluesnapperDanish
- ChathamschnäpperGerman
- Chatham-SchnäpperGerman
- Chathman-SchnäpperGerman
- ĉatama petroikoEsperanto
- Petroica de las ChathamSpanish
- süsimiroEstonian
- سینهسرخ سیاهPersian
- chathaminsieppoFinnish
- Miro des ChathamFrench
- שחור-חזהHebrew
- čatamski batićCroatian
- fekete cinegelégykapóHungarian
- Petroica delle ChathamItalian
- チャタムヒタキJapanese
- čataminė petroikaLithuanian
- Četema salas mušķērājsLatvian
- ChathamvliegenvangerDutch
- Chatham Island-vliegenvangerDutch
- MangereflugeskvettNorwegian Nynorsk
- mangereflueskvettNorwegian
- skalinek czarnyPolish
- papinho-pretoPortuguese
- petróica-pretaPortuguese
- Чатамская петроикаRussian
- Чатемская петроикаRussian
- mucholovka TraversovaSlovak
- Crvendać sa ostrva ČatamSerbian
- chathamsydhakeSwedish
- Chatham BülbülüTurkish
- тоутоваї чатамськийUkrainian
- 查岛鸲鹟Chinese
- 查坦島鴝鶲Chinese
Relatives of the black robin
Other species in the same genus Petroica.
Pink robin
Petroica rodinogaster
South island robin
Petroica australis
Red-capped robin
Petroica goodenovii
Tomtit
Petroica macrocephala
Flame robin
Petroica phoenicea
Rose robin
Petroica rosea
CompareBlack robin vs Pink robinBlack robin vs South island robinBlack robin vs Red-capped robinBlack robin vs Tomtit
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the black robin?
An adult black robin weighs 23.5 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the black robin endangered?
The black robin is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
What kind of animal is the black robin?
The black robin (Petroica traversi) belongs to the family Petroicidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Black robin (Petroica traversi). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-robin
“Black robin (Petroica traversi).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-robin.
@misc{black_robin_2026,
title = {Black robin (Petroica traversi)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-robin},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}