Voice
A peevish 'psee'. A repeated 't-tee, t-tee, t-tee' or 'georgee, georgee'. An explosive 'dip' uttered in flight. Song: a ringing 'chick, chock-chick, chick-chick, chick', usually from treetop. A hard trill uttered in alarm.
White-throated Honeyeater (Melithreptus albogularis) [XC688260]
by James Lambert from Moth Block (Casuarina Coastal Reserve Land Care Group) (near Tiwi), Darwin Municipality, Northern Territory, Australia (song)
White-throated Honeyeater (Melithreptus albogularis) [XC174191]
by Nicholas Allen from Koah, Queensland, Australia (song)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Almost anytime but mostly April - early January.
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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-naped Honeyeater (Melithreptus lunatus).
Eggs (Guide)
Usually; occasionally glossy, pink to pale buff, lightly freckled with red-brown and mauve, particularly at the larger end; oval; about 19 x 14 mm. Incubation: about 13 days.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 14 days. Fed by both parents.
Subspecies
Closest to White-naped Honeyeater (Melithreptus lunatus) and Black-headed Honeyeater (Melithreptus affinis). Subspecies intergrade where they abut in Burdekin-Endeavour rivers region of north-eastern Australia. Birds in New Guinea currently included in nominate subspecies, but racial identity requires confirmation. Two additional proposed subspecies, subalbogularis (from Derby, in northern Western Australia) and schoddei (Clarke Range, in eastern Queensland), are synonymized with, respectively, nominate and inopinatus.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
albogularis Gould, 1848 - Disjunctly in south, north-eastern and south-eastern New Guinea (southern Trans-Fly from Kurik east to Oriomo R; middle reaches of Markham R; upper Musa R, lower Ponganu R and Oro Bay and, south of Owen Stanley Range, Bereina east to Kupiano); western Australia (from Kimberley and Broome) and Top End of northern Territory (south to Barkly Tableland) east to north-eastern Queensland (Cape York Peninsula south to Burdekin-Mitchell Drainage Basin), including numerous offshore islands.
inopinatus Schodde, 1989 - Eastern Queensland (from Burdekin-Mitchell Drainage Basin) south on eastern slopes of Great Divide and adjacent coast to north-eastern New South Wales (south to Macleay R).
Similar Species
White-naped Honeyeater (Melithreptus lunatus) which has a red eye-cresent and a smaller white nape-band and a slightly black chin.
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