The North Island Robin Petroica longipes is a species of Australain robin endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. It was once considered a subspecies of the New Zealand Robin of South and Steward Islands, but mitochorngrial DNA sequences have shown that the two lineages split prior to the Pleistocene and supported the split into two species. The North Island Robin is distributed mostly in the centre of North Island, with small relict populations in the north and south om dofferemt islands. Their natural habitat is mostly natural forest, particularly Podocarpus and Nothofagus forests, from sea level up to the tree line.
It is a remarkably friendly bird. Photos 3238 – 3262 were taken on the Mokoia Island Wildlife Preserve in Lake Rotorua at Rotorua, NZ. We had stopped to sit at a bench and the Robin hopped down in front of us. At times I was so close I could not get a picture with my telephoto lens. Photos 7082 to 7112 were taken in the Maungatautari Preserve (see photo) and again he was often too close to photograph. The final photo 6515 was taken at the Tiritiri Matanagi island preserve.
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