Male, T. D. and T. J. Snetsinger.  1998.  Has the Red-billed Leiothrix disappeared from Kaua'i?  'Elepaio 58: 39-43.

Male, T.D., S.G. Fancy, and C.J. Ralph.  1998.  Red-billed Leiothrix (Leiothrix lutea).  In The Birds of North America, No. 359 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.).  The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Ralph, C.J., S.G. Fancy, and T.D. Male.  1998.  Demography of an introduced Red-billed Leiothrix population in Hawaii.  Condor 100: 468-473.

Red-billed Leiothrix (Leiothrix lutea) © 1990 Peter LaTourrette

Male, T. D.  2000.  Evidence for co-operative breeding in the Pale Yellow Robin Tregellasia capito

            As more detailed studies are conducted on the ecology of bird species it is becoming clear that fewer species exhibit strict bi-parental  reproductive behaviour than previously thought.  Rather, many species exhibit co-operative breeding in which more than two adult birds assist in a single nesting attempt.  These additional birds, or ‘helpers’ may be offspring of the breeding pair from a previous year, unrelated birds helping the breeding pair, or they may have been actively involved in the breeding, either through extra-pair copulations with the laying female by male helpers, or by the laying of additional eggs by female helpers (Emlen 1984, Brown 1987).

            Australian Robins (Family Petroicidae) show a high incidence of co-operative breeding although few species in the group have been extensively studied (Clarke 1995).  The ecology of Pale Yellow Robins Tregellasia capito is particularly poorly documented.   I observed co-operative breeding behaviour at one nest in September – October 1999 and this data provides the first evidence for co-operative breeding in this species.

Pale Yellow Robin (Tregellasia capito)