Rufous-throated Honeyeater (Conopophila rufogularis)

Other Names (World)
Rufous-throated Honeyeater, Red-throated Honeyeater

Family
Meliphagidae (Honeyeaters)

Size
12 - 14 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Gould, 1843)

Derivation
Cö-nö-poph'-il-a - Gk, conops, gnat; Gk, philos, fond of: rü-fo-gu-lä'-ris - L., rufus, red; L., gularis, throated

Habitat
Open grassy woodlands with scattered shrubs, and open ground layer or open mixed woodland.

Range (Guide)

Australia (B).

Image of Range of Rufous-throated Honeyeater

Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Habits
Singly, in pairs or small flocks, often associated with other honeyeaters in feeding flocks.

Food
Insects and nectar.

Voice
A sharp 'zit-zit'. Chatterings, like a House Sparrow (Passer domesticus).

Listen to call of Rufous-throated Honeyeater

(38Kb) © ? (1)

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (11)...)

Rufous-throated Honeyeater (Conopophila rufogularis) [XC705132]
by nick talbot from Normanton, Carpentaria Shire, Queensland, Australia (call)

Rufous-throated Honeyeater (Conopophila rufogularis) [XC816268]
by Marc Anderson from Normanton, Carpentaria Shire, Queensland, Australia (call)

Nest
Small, purse-shaped, the rim on one side than the other, composed of soft pieces of bark and grass, lined with stiff stems of grass to keep it in shape, suspended from a pendent branch of a tree up to 7 - 8 m above the ground.

Eggs (Guide)
2 - 3; white to grey-white, with fine to coarse pink-red to purple-brown spots; oval to tapered-oval; about 18 x 13 mm. Incubation: about 13 days; by female.

Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 12 days.

Subspecies
No subspecies.

May form a superspecies with Rufous-banded Honeyeater (Conopophila albogularis). Slight clinal variation in tone of plumage, west and inland populations slightly paler and browner above and below. Eastern populations (northern Queensland) sometimes treated as a geographical subspecies, queenslandica (described from Inkerman), but appear little different from birds in west of range.

Similar Species
Rufous-banded Honeyeater (Conopophila albogularis) which has a rufous band across the breast, a greyer head and a white chin and throat, and juveniles and immatures with Brown Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta) which has longer bill and a yellowish or silvery-white spot behind the eye.

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

Files:

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