The northern scrub robin (''Drymodes superciliaris'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family

Petroicidae The bird family Petroicidae includes 51 species in 19 genera. All are endemic to Australasia: New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and numerous Pacific Islands as far east as Samoa. For want of an accurate common name, the family is often called th ...

. It is found in northern

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

. It was found to be genetically distinct from the Papuan scrub robin, which were thought to be members of the same species. A putative subspecies ''D. s. colcloughi'', known as the

Roper River scrub robin The Roper River scrub robin (''Drymodes superciliaris colcloughi''), also known as the allied scrub robin, is a putative subspecies of the northern scrub robin, a bird in the Petroicidae, or Australasian robin family (biology), family. Whether ...

, was described by

Gregory Mathews Gregory Macalister Mathews Order of the British Empire, CBE FRSE FZS FLS (10 September 1876 – 27 March 1949) was an Australian-born amateur ornithologist who spent most of his later life in England. Life He was born in Biamble, New South Wal ...

in 1914 from specimens supposedly collected from the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

of Australia. However, there have been no further records from the area, the provenance of the specimens has been questioned, and the taxon is controversial.

References

northern scrub robin Birds of Cape York Peninsula northern scrub robin Taxa named by John Gould Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Petroicidae-stub