New Holland Honeyeater
White-cheeked Honeyeater
Click to enlarge image
creative commons
Fast Facts
-
Classification
- Genus
- Phylidonyris
- Species
- novaehollandiae
- Family
- Meliphagidae
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Class
- Aves
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Kingdom
- Animalia
-
- Size Range
- 17 - 18.5 cm long
Introduction
With long, slender beaks and a tongue which can protrude well beyond the end of their beaks, New Holland Honeyeaters are able to probe for nectar in the deep flowers of Banksias and Grevilleas.
Identification
The New Holland Honeyeater is mostly black and white, with a large yellow wing patch and yellow sides on the tail. It has a small white ear patch, a thin white whisker at the base of the bill and a white eye. This honeyeater is an active bird, and rarely sits still long enough to give an extended view. Sexes are similar in looks, but females are slightly smaller in size. Young birds are browner and have a grey eye.
© Australian Museum
Habitat
The New Holland Honeyeater is common in heath, forests, woodland and gardens, mainly where grevilleas and banksias are found. It is inquisitive and approaches humans. It also mixes with other types of honeyeaters.
Distribution
The New Holland Honeyeater's range extends throughout southern Australia, from about Brisbane, Queensland, to just north of Perth, Western Australia.
Feeding and diet
New Holland Honeyeaters are active feeders.They mostly eat the nectar of flowers, and busily dart from flower to flower in search of this high-energy food. Other food items include fruit, insects and spiders. Birds may feed alone, but normally gather in quite large groups. Most feeding takes place in lower areas of bushes and thickets
Communication
The voice comprises a loud 'chik', a fainter 'pseet' and some chattering notes. If danger, such as a bird of prey approaches, a group of honeyeaters will join together and give a loud alarm call.
Breeding behaviours
The New Holland Honeyeater's cup-shaped nest is made of bark and grasses, bound together with spider web. It is lined with soft material and is placed in a bush or tree, anywhere from ground level up to 6 m. Both sexes feed the chicks. A pair of adults may raise two or three broods in a year.
- Breeding Season: any time of year; mainly summer and winter
- Clutch size: 2 to 3
- Incubation: 18 days
- Time in nest: 16 days
