- Gavicalis versicolor
Lichenostomus versicolor
Identification
Plain grey-brown upperbody, black streak through the eye from the bill to the neck, yellow streak below the eye grading into a white throat, white-grey underbody streaked dark grey-brown, small, inconspicuous white ear-tuft, yellow ear coverts, black bill, dark brown eye. Young birds are similar to adults, with a lighter forehead and crown and a narrower, duller face marking.
Distribution
Australia (only on the coastal strip of NE Queensland), eastern Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.
Taxonomy
Formerly placed in the genus Lichenostomus.
Subspecies
Clements recognizes these subspecies[1]:
- G. v. sonoroides: Raja Ampat Islands, Yapen, coastal New Guinea (except southwestern) through northern New Guinea and Milne Bay islands, and D'Entrecasteaux Archipelago
- G. v. versicolor: coastal southern New Guinea, Torres Strait Islands, and northeastern Queensland
Former subspecies vulgaris and intermedius are now considered synonyms of G. v. sonoroides.
Habitat
Open shrublands and low woodlands, swamps, creeks, drainage channels, urban parks, gardens and farmyards.
Behaviour
The diet includes nectar, insects and fruit.
They are monogamous. An open cup-nest is built from matted grasses and lined with roots, wool or other mammal hairs. The female incubates the eggs alone but both adults feed the young. This species is parasitised by the Pallid Cuckoo.
References
- Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, M. Smith, and C. L. Wood. 2024. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2024. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2024. IOC World Bird List (v 15.1). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.15.1. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Varied Honeyeater. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 13 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Varied_Honeyeater
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
