Common. Usually sedentary, but in south-eastern Australia migratory.
Habitat
Mainly open sclerophyll forests and woodlands, dominated by eucalypts, with an understorey that varies from dense and well developed to sparse and patchy, or with sparse grassy ground cover.
From Cairns, Qld through eastern Australia to south-eastern South Australia and Kangaroo Island. Also south-western Western Australia from about Moora to Esperance.
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Habits
Usually in pairs or small communal groups. Sometimes in large flocks, especially during migration.
Food
Insects and nectar.
Voice
A thin, scratchy, 'shirp, shirp, shirp'. Constant cheeps and chatterring. A liquid, mellow 'tsew-tsew-tsew'. A tense, quiet, 'pew, pew, pew' uttered in alarm.
Nest
Cup-shaped, composed of fine strips of bark matted with cobweb, lined with grass, fur or hair, suspended from a drooping branch of a tree, usually at a considerable height above the ground. Similar to that of White-throated Honeyeater (Melithreptus albogularis).
Eggs (Guide)
2 - 3; pink to pale buff, finely spotted all over with red-brown and grey, mainly at the larger end; oval; about 18 x 14 mm. Incubation: about 14 days; probably by female only.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 14 - 16 days.
Subspecies
May form a superspecies with Black-headed Honeyeater (Melithreptus affinis). Nominate race possibly exhibits clinal variation in size, being slightly larger in south of range.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
lunatus (Vieillot, 1802) - Eastern and south-eastern Australia, from northern Queensland (wet tropics) south, extending west to inland slopes of Great Divide and adjacent inland plains, to Victoria and to south-eastern South Australia (including Kangaroo I).
chloropsis Gould, 1848 - South-western western Australia (north to Swan R Plain and Wheatbelt in west). Also known as western White-naped Honeyeater, Swan River Honeyeater. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Gilbert's Honeyeater (Melithreptus chloropsis).
Similar Species
White-throated Honeyeater (Melithreptus albogularis) which has a white chin and a more prominent white nape band, Black-chinned Honeyeater (Melithreptus gularis) which has a blue eye-crescent and a black chin and center of throat, and immature with immature Brown-headed Honeyeater (Melithreptus brevirostris).
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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