Habitat
Wet sclerophyll forest, heathland or scrub, dominated by eucalypts with a well-developed mid-storey of acacias, or understorey of tall dense shrubs.
Crescent Honeyeater (Phylidonyris pyrrhopterus) [XC771556]
by Drew Davison from Cape Schanck, Shire of Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia (call)
Crescent Honeyeater (Phylidonyris pyrrhopterus) [XC860064]
by Peter Boesman from Dandenong Ranges National Park, Victoria, Australia (call)
Nest
Cup-shaped, composed of strips of bark and twigs, lined with grass and a little soft material, placed in a thick bush close to the ground.
Eggs (Guide)
2 - 3, rarely 4; pale pink, boldly spotted of reds and browns; swollen oval; about 19 x 15 mm. Incubation: about 14 days; by female.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 12 - 13 days.
Subspecies
Proposed subspecies indistinctus (from Mt Lofty, in southern Australia) is considered inadequately differentiated from halmaturinus, and rex (from King I, in Bass Strait) and inornatus (Tasmania) are synonymous with nominate.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
pyrrhopterus (Latham, 1801) - South-eastern Australia on and eastern and south of Great Divide, from Ceastern New South Wales (southern from about Gosford, inland to Bathurst) south to eastern and southern Victoria and extreme south-eastern South Australia; islands in Bass Strait (King I, Kent Group, Furneaux Group); and Tasmania (including offshore islands).
halmaturinus (A.G.Campbell, 1906) - Mt Lofty Ranges south to Fleurieu Peninsula and on Kangaroo I, in south-eastern South Australia.
Similar Species
In flight and with brief glimpses with New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae) and White-cheeked Honeyeater (Phylidonyris niger) both of which have a yellow wing stripe but have heavily streaked underparts, and in poor light females with adult Tawny-crowned Honeyeater (Gliciphila melanops).
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