The jacky winter is a small grey-brown robin found commonly throughout Australia and also in Papua New Guinea. The jacky winter acquired its name due to rapid and strong vocalisations, which sound like jacky-jacky winter-winter. Their call is also often referred to as sounding like peter-peter-peter. Its habitats include open woodlands and farmlands.
Region
Australia
Typical Environment
Widespread across mainland Australia, especially in open eucalypt woodlands, mallee, and lightly timbered farmland. It favors edges, clearings, and riparian strips with scattered perches and patches of bare ground. Typically absent from dense rainforests and the most treeless deserts, and uncommon in closed coastal heath. It adapts well to modified landscapes such as paddocks, roadside trees, and parklands.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1200 m
Climate Zone
Temperate
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 2/5
The jacky winter is a small Australasian robin that perches conspicuously on low branches, fence posts, or stumps and makes short sallies to catch insects. Its clear, repeated call is often rendered as 'peter-peter-peter' and carries well across open country. Also known as 'post-sitter' or 'stump-bird,' it is a familiar presence in much of mainland Australia’s open woodlands and farmlands.
Female nesting
Temperament
solitary and territorial
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats
Social Behavior
Usually seen singly or in pairs, maintaining territories year-round in many areas. Nests are neat, shallow cups placed on horizontal branches or forks, typically well camouflaged. Pairs cooperate in raising 1–3 young, with the male often feeding the incubating female and later the chicks.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
A clear, ringing series of repeated notes, often transcribed as 'peter-peter-peter,' delivered from an exposed perch. Calls are rapid, bright, and carry far in open habitats, with increased output at dawn and during the breeding season.
Plumage
Soft grey-brown upperparts with pale off-white underparts and a clean white throat; subtle pale eyebrow and faint wing bar. Tail shows white outer feathers visible in flight; overall plain but crisp contrast between upperparts and underparts.
Diet
Feeds primarily on terrestrial and aerial insects such as beetles, ants, flies, wasps, and moths, as well as spiders. Hunts from low, open perches, sallying to the ground to pounce or making short aerial sorties. Occasionally gleans from foliage and bark but prefers open-ground foraging.
Preferred Environment
Edges of open woodland, scattered trees in farmland, fence lines, and fallen logs or stumps that provide vantage points. Often forages where leaf litter or bare patches make prey easy to spot.
