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Brown-headed HoneyeaterSize: 13-14 cm |
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Habitat |
(for details refer to a field guide) |
In total there are five races of Brown-headed Honeyeaters in Australia. Nominate race "brevirostris" lives in the Great Dividing Range of NSW and VIC. South of the Hunter River in NSW they also populate the coastal fringe, through VIC and into the south-eastern corner of SA, with one exception: Just to the east and west of Melbourne, in small coastal areas, race "wombeyi" is found. Further inland, throughout the semi-arid plains of southern QLD (south of about Roma) and NSW (out to about Wilcannia in the west) and along the lower Murray-Darling basin race "pallidiceps" is found. On Eyre peninsula and a narrow coastal fringe in SA, as well as south-western WA (but not the south-western tip, including Perth, itself) one finds race "leucogenys". Race "magnirostris" lives only on Kangaroo Island, SA.
Brown-headed Honeyeaters can be found in various types of woodland; we have seen them in open eucalypt forest with some undergrowth.
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Sightings |
Brown-headed Honeyeaters are very inconspicuous members of the honeyeater family. It took us three years to first identify a bird. The grey chin, eyering and neckband make its identification easy. First spotted in March 2006, then again upon its return in October 2006, 20 km south of Narrabri.
In November 2008 also spotted high up in eucalypt trees in Deriah Forest, 30 km east of Narrabri, where a pair of Brown-headed Honeyeaters was busy feeding their young. Without the hustle and bustle surrounding the young birds, they would have gone unnoticed. Seen again in the same area in March 2009.
At least 6 birds were seen by us at a dam in the northern part of the Pilliga Forest in May 2011.
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Photos |
Close-up frontal view of a Brown-headed Honeyeater
Frontal view of a Brown-headed Honeyeater
The same bird as shown above, now issuing its territorial
call
The same bird as shown above, here seen producing a much
softer, guttural call
Near-frontal view of a Brown-headed Honeyeater
Near-lateral view of a Brown-headed Honeyeater looking for
something edible
Lateral view of a Brown-headed Honeyeater approaching a waterhole
View of the back of a Brown-headed Honeyeater
Family of Brown-headed Honeyeaters at a water hole
On the left one can see an immature bird
Closer look at a fledgling Brown-headed Honeyeater approaching
a waterhole
Honeyeater variety bash: Brown-headed on the right, White-eared at the centre and
Yellow-faced on
the left
Three fledgling Brown-headed Honeyeaters waiting to be fed by their parents
Two of the three fledgling birds shown above, preening
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Behaviour |
| Social behaviour: Territorial | Mobility: Dispersive | Elementary unit: Family clan/small flock |
