Hooded Robin
Buy 01
Named hooded by science
In 1801 John Latham looked at this bird and wrote cucullata. Hooded. Not “dark-headed”. Hooded. The Latin did the branding.
Species profile
Know your bird
Every fact below is real. The hoodie is a slight exaggeration. The hood is not.
Specimen #1801
16 cm
22 g
hood: on
22 g
hood: on
16 cmLength
22 gWeight · all hood
1801Named hooded
4Subspecies
IUCN Least Concern
SE subspecies: Endangered
Hood: permanent
- Common name
Hooded Robin
- Scientific
Melanodryas cucullata (Latham, 1801)
- Meaning
Greek melas “black” + dryas “wood-nymph”. Latin cucullatus “hooded”. A hooded black wood-nymph. The scientists knew.
- Male
Black hood and back, white underparts, white shoulder bar and wing stripe.
- Female
Grey-brown. Doesn’t wear the hood. Still holds.
- Habitat
Lightly timbered woodland — acacia and eucalypt.
- Range
NSW · VIC · QLD · SA · WA · NT · ACT
- Hunting
Pounces on invertebrates from an exposed perch close to the ground. Never chases.
- Breeding
July–November. Two pale olive-green eggs, ~15 days. No presale.
- Call
Quiet trills, occasional piping whistles. First to sing at dawn, silent all afternoon.
Real recording · wild bird
Hear the call
Press to listen
“Quiet trills, occasional piping whistles. One of the first birds to call in the morning, when they vigorously add their far-carrying song to the dawn chorus.” — BirdLife Australia, species profile
Sings before the market opens. Every day. Since 1801.
Couldn’t load the recording. Check that audio/call.mp3 is next to this page.
Recording XC287037 by Marc Anderson, via BirdLife Australia.
Why this bird
Built different
We didn’t invent a mascot. We found one that had been in a hood since 1801 and asked it nicely.
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First in the dawn chorus
One of the first birds to call every morning, and the song carries far. It doesn’t wait for the open. It is the open.
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Perch. Wait. Pounce.
Hunts by sitting perfectly still on a low perch, then striking once. No chasing. No panic. The original patient entry.
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The hood is earned
Young males take up to three years and several moults to grow the hood, and only about half have it by year three. Nobody is airdropped a hood.
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Not actually a robin
No relation to the European or American robin. Closer to a crow. Named by homesick settlers in 1801, mislabelled for 225 years, thriving anyway.
06
Will act dead for the nest
When a predator comes near the eggs, both parents fake an injury and roll around on the ground to lure it away. Diamond hands, feathered edition.
Numbers
Robinomics
Two eggs per clutch. Fifteen days to hatch. No presale. That’s the bird’s policy and it’s ours.
1BTotal supply
0 / 0Buy / sell tax
BurnedLiquidity
0%Team allocation
22 gOf pure hood
How to spot one
Get in the hood
Get a wallet
Any wallet that speaks Robinhood Chain. Thirty seconds, no binoculars required.
Fund it
Bridge or send ETH to your address. The bird pays for nothing; you pay gas.
Perch. Wait. Pounce.
Paste the contract address, set your amount, and swap. One strike. No chasing.
CA
Coming soon — contract address will be posted here
Confirmed observations
In the wild
Native to lightly timbered woodland. Also, apparently, everywhere else.
Frequently asked
Field notes
Is this a real bird?
Yes. Melanodryas cucullata, described by John Latham in 1801, native to Australia. About 16 cm, about 22 grams. The sunglasses are ours. The hood is its own.
Why Robinhood Chain?
Robin. Hood. We did not choose this. Latin chose this in 1801 and we are simply respecting the paperwork.
Does it actually sing?
Press the button up top. Quiet trills and piping whistles, first thing at dawn, recorded in the wild by Marc Anderson.
Is the real bird okay?
Globally it is Least Concern, but the south-eastern subspecies was listed Endangered in 2023 and one island subspecies may already be gone. If you want to help the actual bird, BirdLife Australia does the work.
What’s the tax?
0 / 0. The bird takes nothing. It pounces once and goes back to its perch.
