| Grey honeyeater | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Illustration by Henrik Grönvold | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Meliphagidae |
| Genus: | Conopophila |
| Species: | C. whitei |
| Binomial name | |
| Conopophila whitei (North, 1910) | |
| Synonyms | |
Lacustroica whitei North. | |
The grey honeyeater (Conopophila whitei) is a species of bird in the honeyeater family. It is an uncommon and little-known bird, an often overlooked endemic of remote areas in central Australia.
Currently placed as a species of the genus Conopophila and classified within the honeyeater family Meliphagidae, Conopophila whitei was first described by A. J. North in 1910 as Lacustroica whitei. [2] The population continued to be assigned to a monotypic genus Lacustroica, [3] or as most closely related to two other species, the rufous-banded ( Conopophila rufogularis ) and rufous-throated ( C. albogularis ) honeyeaters. [4]
The species was found by F. Lawson Whitlock in 1903 at Lake Austin in Western Australia, but no formal description was made. [5] The two specimens he shot and prepared were sent to the Western Australian Museum, about which he received no reply. At the beginning of his later expedition, in 1909, Whitlock killed and skinned a male of the species, recognised as the same he collected in 1903, and located the preparation of a nest by a breeding pair close to the town-site of Wiluna. Whitlock also noted the location of other nesting sites on his journeys around Wiluna, all of which he found had been removed when he returned to them. He continued to observe the progress of the nest near the main street, that had remained undisrupted, eventually removing the branch that held it for his collection. [6] These specimens were supplied to North for the first accepted description, published the following year. [5] [6]
The specific epithet whitei honours Alfred Henry Edsworth White, the son of ornithologist Henry L. White. The generic name Conopophila is derived from the Ancient Greek konops 'gnat' and philos '-loving'. [7] The image accompanying North's description in Emu (1910) was captioned with the name 'Alfred Honey-eater'. [8] The informal names for this species also include White's honeyeater and inconspicuous honeyeater. [9] The IOC World Bird List has proposed grey honeyeater as the common name for this species. [10]
A tiny honeyeater, grey and discreet, with a nondescript colouration that is only faintly marked. The length is 10.5–12 cm (4.1–4.7 in). [4]
The plumage of the upper body is generally cold grey, the lower parts paler, becoming browner until a moult. Tail and flight feathers are a blackish brown, and a slightly darker marking extends across the eye to the bill. The tips of the tail feathers are white, aging to buffish. The bill is relatively short for a honeyeater, slightly down-curved and grey, becoming black toward the tip. There is a pale and indistinct ring of feathers, tinted buff, around the eye. [4] [5] The colour of the iris is brown, the legs are steel grey. [5]
Juveniles have a faintly yellowish cast to the thin eye-ring, that almost disappears as they mature, and on the pale grey feathers of the throat. The grey flight feathers of the immature birds have a yellow-green wash. [4]
The grey honeyeater is similar in appearance to the Western gerygone ( Gerygone fusca ), yellow-rumped thornbill ( Acanthiza chrysorrhoa ) and others of the genus Acanthiza , all of which it often accompanies in mixed species flocks. [11] [4] Care should be taken to distinguish the grey honeyeater from the female redthroat ( Pyrrholaemus brunneus ) [11]
The most common call of the grey honeyeater has been described as a piercing, metallic, quick, double squeak "chirra-wik-chirra-wik", [12] [13] or "cre-seek" and somewhat resembling the call of the white-bellied cuckooshrike ( Coracina papuensis ). [4] It also makes a weak, grating, high-pitched tinkling or a plaintive series of notes given in quick succession, sounding like "troo-whee, troo-whee". [2] [4] [3]
The grey honeyeater is found in a range extending across the mid-west to the centre of the Australian continent, especially in the Pilbara and Murchison regions of Western Australia, and southern and central Northern Territory. [14] It is rare to uncommon and probably sedentary with some nomadic movement. [4] [12] The species is found in semi-arid mulga ( Acacia aneura ) and similar acacia scrublands. [12] The occurrence of mistletoe may be an important factor in determining its distribution. [4] Some good locations for finding the grey honeyeater are the Olive Pink Botanic Garden, Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory, and Wanjarri Nature Reserve, south of Wiluna, and Tom Price, in Western Australia. [15]
The breeding season is August to November, which may extend through to May, if there is summer rain. [12] The nest is a small, frail, untidy cup of fine grass stems, lined with hair and plant down, bound with spider web, hanging from slender twigs in the outer foliage of a mulga shrub. [12] [4] A clutch of 1 or 2 eggs, each measuring 17 mm × 13 mm (0.67 in × 0.51 in), is laid. [12] The eggs are swollen oval and slightly glossy white, spotted with reddish-brown. [4] Incubation is probably by both sexes, as is the feeding of nestlings and fledglings. [3]
The grey honeyeater is primarily insectivorous, busily gleaning the surface of foliage for lerp and similar insects or hovering to capture flying insects. [3] [12] It also feeds on nectar by piercing the deep, tubular flowers of species such as Eremophila, and on the nectar and berries of mistletoe. [12]
The grey honeyeater is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List. [1] It is considered as endangered in Western Australia. [3] Threats are uncontrolled fires from which mulga takes many years to recover, and also grazing by introduced animals that damage the habitat. [3]
The brown thornbill is a passerine bird usually found in eastern and south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania. It can grow up to 10 cm (3.9 in) long, and feeds on insects. It is brown, grey and white. The species has five subspecies.
The yellow-rumped thornbill is a species of passerine bird from the genus Acanthiza. The genus was once placed in the family Pardalotidae but that family was split and it is now in the family Acanthizidae. There are four subspecies of yellow-rumped thornbill. It is a small, brownish bird with a distinctive yellow rump and thin dark bill. It inhabits savannah, scrub and forests across most of Australia and eats insects. The species engages in cooperative breeding.
The eastern spinebill is a species of honeyeater found in south-eastern Australia in forest and woodland areas, as well as gardens in urban areas of Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. It is around 15 cm long, and has a distinctive black, white and chestnut plumage, a red eye, and a long downcurved bill.
The white-plumed honeyeater is a small passerine bird endemic to Australia. White-plumed honeyeaters are common around water and are often seen in backyards and suburbs with vegetation cover.
The little friarbird, also known as the little leatherhead or yellow-throated friarbird, is the smallest of the friarbirds within the Philemon genus. It is found throughout northern and eastern Australia as well as southern Papua New Guinea. It lives a very prominent life, whereby it can easily be seen chasing other honeyeaters, and also it is very vocal. However, the little friarbird is usually spotted high up in trees, rarely being seen on the ground.
The mistletoebird, also known as the mistletoe flowerpecker, is a species of flowerpecker native to most of Australia and also to the eastern Maluku Islands of Indonesia in the Arafura Sea between Australia and New Guinea. The mistletoebird eats mainly the berries of the parasitic mistletoe and is a vector for the spread of the mistletoe's seeds through its digestive system.
The Inland Thornbill was originally described by English ornithologistJohn Gould in The Birds of Australia. Inland Thornbills are within the order passerines. The inland thornbill belongs to the genus Acanthiza, which now has three more species than the eleven outlined by Gould in The Birds of Australia. The Noongar people of southwestern Western Australia call A. apicalis "Djoobi-Djoolbang". The Inland Thornbill is also known as the Broad-tail Thornbill and presently contains several subspecies that were once considered independent species. The word apicalis comes from the Latin for tipped.
The chestnut-rumped thornbill is a small passerine bird in the family Acanthizidae, endemic to Australia.
The black honeyeater is a species of bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. The black honeyeater exhibits sexual dimorphism, with the male being black and white while the female is a speckled grey-brown; immature birds look like the female. The species is endemic to Australia, and ranges widely across the arid areas of the continent, through open woodland and shrubland, particularly in areas where the emu bush and related species occur.
The pied honeyeater is a species of bird in the family of honeyeaters Meliphagidae and the sole species in the genus Certhionyx. This species is also known as the black and white honeyeater or western pied honeyeater.
The white-fronted chat is a species of bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to southern Australia. The male has a white face bordered by a black breast band. It is insectivorous.
The western gerygone is a small, brownish-grey species of passerine bird, which is found in inland and south-west Australia. It is an arboreal, insectivore of open forest, woodland and dry shrubland. It is not currently threatened with extinction.
The painted honeyeater is a species of honeyeater in a monotypic genus.
The grey-headed honeyeater is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is endemic to Australia.
Frederick Bulstrode Lawson Whitlock (1860-1953) was an ornithological writer and oölogist, active in England and across Western Australia.
{{cite book}}: |editor1-first= has generic name (help)Grey Honeyeater
Song recordings. "Grey Honeyeater (Conopophila whitei)". www.xeno-canto.org. Xeno-canto Foundation. Retrieved 16 July 2018.