Other Names (World)
Brown Honeyeater, Australian Brown Honeyeater, Least Honeyeater, Warbling Honeyeater
Family
Meliphagidae (Honeyeaters)
Size
11 - 15 cm
First Described (Guide)
(Vigors & Horsfield, 1827)
Derivation
Lich'-me-ra - Gk, lichmeres, playing with the tongue: in-dis-tinc'-ta - L., indistinctus, not clear
Habitat
Wooded areas usually near water, including coastal mangroves in sheltered areas, such as, tifal mudflats, creeks and estuaries. Also closed or open forests or woodlands with dense shrubby or open grassy understorey, vegetation near watercourses, swamps, billabongs, waterholes, springs and tanks.
Brown Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta) [XC528808]
by James Lambert from Wetherby Rd, Mareeba Shire, Queensland, Australia (song)
Brown Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta) [XC722604]
by James Lambert from Nightcliff, Darwin Municipality, Northern Territory, Australia (dawn song)
Nest
Small, cup-shaped, composed of soft bark and fiber, lined with plant-down, suspended in a small forked branch of a shrub, often overhanging water.
Eggs (Guide)
2; matt, white, freckled brown, mostly at the larger end; swollen-oval; about 17 x 13 mm. Incubation: about 14 days; by female.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 13 - 14 days.
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Indonesian Honeyeater (Lichmera limbata) and Grey-eared Honeyeater (Lichmera incana). Subspecies ocularis intergrades with nominate through south-eastern Gulf of Carpentaria Drainage.
The following 5 subspecies are recognised:
indistincta (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827) - Western and north-western Australia, from south-western WA, north and east to the fringes of the western deserts, the Pilbara region, the Kimberley Divide, Arnhem Land and southern Gulf of Carpentaria and extending south to central Ausrralian ranges of NT and the Selwyn Ranges in north-western Qld.
ocularis (Gould, 1838) - Southern New Guinea (southern Trans-Fly region, including around Merauke, Bensbach R and L Daviambu), Saibai I (in northern Torres Strait) and eastern Australia from Cape York Peninsula south to south-western Queensland and Cnorthern and Ceastern New South Wales (south to around Sydney).
melvillensis (Mathews, 1912) - Tiwi Is (Bathurst I, Melville I), off northern Northern Territory (northern Australia).
limbata (Müller, 1843) - Bali and Lesser Sundas to Flores and Timor. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Indonesian Honeyeater (Lichmera limbata).
nupta (Stresemann, 1912) - Aru Islands.
Similar Species
Dusky Myzomela (Myzomela obscura) which more uniform dark grey-brown or chocolate-brow, with a faint or distinct dusky stripe down the center of the chin and throat, but lacks pale panels in the wings and tail, females and juveniles of Red-headed Myzomela (Myzomela erythrocephala) and Scarlet Myzomela (Myzomela sanguinolenta) which are smaller and shorter-tailed, lack pale facial markings and panels in the wings and tail.
References
See References.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet