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We investigated whether the abundance of the South Island robin (Petroica australis australis) could be explained by the abundance, species richness, diversity, or evenness of leaf-litter invertebrates. We recorded robin abundance indices and collected leaf-litter invertebrates in 3 forest types: mature Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii); mature Monterey pine (Pinus radiata); and old growth kanuka-manuka (Kunzea ericoides – Leptospermum scoparium). Robins were attracted to stations using 5-min playbacks of robin full song in each forest type. Invertebrates were extracted from leaf-litter samples using ‘Tullgren-type’ heat extraction funnels. There was no significant difference between the numbers of robins detected in the Douglas fir (1.14 5 min count-1), or kanuka-manuka forest (0.86 5 min count-1), and no robins were detected in the Monterey pine forest. Kanuka-manuka forest had the greatest biomass and species richness of leaf-litter invertebrates, but the lowest evenness. We believe that the abundance of the South Island robin can not be sufficiently explained by the density or directly of leaf-litter invertebrates.