Voice
Loud, staccato, 'plizk-plizk-plik-plik-plik-plik'. A plaintive, descending, 'kiaak-kiaak-kiaak-kiaak' and a harsher, descending, 'kriaak-kriaak-kriaak'. A melodious 'chip' and a sharp 'queak-queak-queak'.
Yellow-spotted Honeyeater (Meliphaga notata) [XC276023]
by Krzysztof Deoniziak from Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia (call)
Yellow-spotted Honeyeater (Meliphaga notata) [XC161253]
by Adrian Walsh from Smithfield, Queensland, Australia (song)
Nest
Fragile, cup-shaped, composed of soft bark and dead leaves, bound with spiderweb and wild cotton, lined with plant down, and decorated on the outside with lichen, suspended by the rim from a horizontal fork in a bush or sapling, generally within 4 m of the ground.
Eggs (Guide)
Usually 2; smooth, white with small, sparse red-black and brown spots, mostly at the larger end; oval; about 23 x 16 mm. Incubation: about 15 days.
Young
Fledge in about 15 days.
Subspecies
Subspecies intergrade in narrow zone from Cooktown south to about Ayton.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
notata (Gould, 1867) - Islands of central and southern Torres Strait; northern Queensland south to Archer-Mitchell rivers and Princess Charlotte Bay, with outliers south to around Cooktown-Ayton area.
mixta (Mathews, 1912) - Coastal north-eastern Queensland from Cooktown south to Paluma Range, Townsville and Cape Cleveland, inland to Atherton Tableland; isolated population at Mt Elliot and records farther south (at Haughton R).
Similar Species
Lewin's Honeyeater (Meliphaga lewinii) which is larger, has a dusky blue-grey eye, larger, yellow, half-moon shaped ear patch and Graceful Honeyeater (Microptilotis gracilis) which is smaller, and also has a brown eye, but with a small round ear patch with a slight blunt rearward point and faint pale yellow streaked under parts.
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