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Painted HoneyeaterSize: 15.5-16 cm |
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Habitat |
(for details refer to a field guide) |
Painted Honeyeaters are found only in the east and south-east of the Australian continent. Their range includes the Great Dividing Range and its western slopes, into the open plains, and extends from about Melbourne, VIC, northward to the tropic of Capricorn in QLD. They are not found along the narrow coastal fringe all across this latitude range, but only in the ranges or further inland. The limits of their range in the north and west are not well-determined. There are few and scattered sightings in central and northern QLD and parts of the NT.
Painted Honeyeaters can usually be found in open forest, also roadside vegetation, preferably with ironbark or box eucalypts or casuarinas. They have a strong preference for mistletoe flowers in those host trees.
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Sightings |
We have seen Painted Honeyeaters in 2006, from September onwards, in various locations in the area of Narrabri, NSW (20 km north-east of town and 30 km north and 20 km south-west of Narrabri).
Spotted again in February 2008, 20 km south-west of Narrabri, in the same area as 2 years before. However, after substantial clearing along roadsides, not seen in the area in December 2008. Instead, there were Brown Honeyeaters feeding on the numerous mistletoe flowers instead, which we had not spotted there before.
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Photos |
Lateral view of an adult Painted Honeyeater
... the same bird as above, now at a somewhat private moment (note droplets below the bird...)
Lateral view of an immature Painted Honeyeater;
note the partly dark bill and the absence of any
streaks or spots on the breast
Immature Painted Honeyeater feeding on mistletoe
blossoms in a casuarina tree
View of the underbelly of an immature Painted
Honeyeater (as indicated by the partly dark bill),
showing first signs of streaking
The pinkish lores and short tail indicate that this is a fledgling
Painted Honeyeater; again the bill is partly dark and there are no
streaks or spots on the breast
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Food |
Painted Honeyeaters specialise on nectar from various types of mistletoe.
