Predation of Eastern Yellow Robin nestlings from the same nest by an Eastern Ringtail Possum and a Pied Currawong

Abstract

This note describes the predation of nestling Eastern Yellow Robins Eopsaltria australis by an Eastern Ringtail Possum Pseudocheirus peregrinus and by a Pied Currawong Strepera graculina and likely attempted predation by a Red Wattlebird Anthochaera carunculata. Although Eastern Ringtail Possums have been inferred to be predators of birds’ nests, the observations and video presented here appear to be the first unequivocal evidence of carnivory in that species and offer new insights to this possum species’ ecology.