- Melithreptus brevirostris
Identification
- Olive green upperparts
- Grey or buff underparts
Head
- Brown
- Pale line across back
- Yellow-orange eyering all the way round the eye.
- Dark eye
Juvenile
Photo © by Rose Fletcher
Nangawooka Flora Reserve, Victor Harbor, South Australia, April 2008
Photo © by Rose Fletcher
Nangawooka Flora Reserve, Victor Harbor, South Australia, April 2008
Juveniles have blue eyering
Distribution
Australia: found in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 5 subspecies[1]:
- M. b. brevirostris:
- South-eastern Australia (north-eastern New South Wales to southern Victoria and far south-eastern South Australia)
- M. b. wombeyi:
- Southern Victoria (OtwayPeninsula and Gippsland)
- M. b. pallidiceps:
- South-central Queensland to north-western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia
- M. b. magnirostris:
- Kangaroo Island (South Australia)
- M. b. leucogenys:
- Southern Western Australia to Eyre Peninsula, South Australia
An additional subspecies M.b. augustus is generally considered invalid[1].
Habitat
Rainforest, eucalypt forest, woodlands, swamp-woodlands. Scrublands - mallee, belar; coastal tea-tree; banksia scrubs.
Behaviour
Diet
The food includes mainly insects with some nectar.
Breeding
It builds a cup shaped nest from bark, grass, animal hair, bound with spiderweb.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Birds in Backyards
- BF Member observations
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Brown-headed Honeyeater. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Brown-headed_Honeyeater
