Yellow-throated miner

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Yellow-throated miner
Yellow-throated Miner - Sturt National Park.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Meliphagidae
Genus: Manorina
Species:
M. flavigula
Binomial name
Manorina flavigula
(Gould, 1840)
Yellow-throatedMinerDistributionAtlasLivingAustralia.png
Yellow-throated miner range [2]

The yellow-throated miner (Manorina flavigula) is a species of colonial honeyeater, endemic to Australia. It is also known as the white-rumped miner. The distinctive white rump is easy to observe in the field and distinguishes it from the other miner species. [3] Yellow-throated miners are medium-sized, grey passerines with yellow throat markings, legs, and bare patches around the eye. The common name 'miner' is an alternative spelling of the word myna , mynah or minah, and is shared with other members of the genus Manorina . Though miners were originally named due to their resemblance to the common myna of South and Southeast Asia that shares similar yellow eye-patch and legs, common mynas are from the starling family and are not closely related to the honeyeater family. [4] [5] Common mynas are an aggressive introduced pest in Australia, which causes some confusion with the native aggressive miners.

Contents

Yellow-throated miners feed on invertebrates, nectar, pollen, lerps, and seeds. [6] They are the most widely distributed of the genus Manorina and inhabit open woodlands and scrublands across most of Australia. [7] Yellow-throated miners live in groups, are social, noisy, and defend territory or resources from other avian species. Their behavior is generally compared to their close relative the noisy miner as they share postures, calls and interactions, though yellow-throated miners are not as well studied. [5]

Taxonomy

In 1840, John Gould named the yellow-throated miner Manorina flavigula meaning 'thin-nostrilled, yellow-throated' bird. [8] [3] It belongs to the family of honeyeaters and Australian chats (Meliphagidae), which is part of the superfamily Meliphagoidea. The superfamily also comprises the Australian warblers, scrubwrens, and thornbills (Acanthizidae); bristlebirds (Dasyornithidae); fairy-wrens (Maluridae); and pardalotes (Pardalotidae). [9] Yellow-throated miners share the genus Manorina with three other endemic Australian miners: the bell miner (M. melanophrys), the noisy miner (M. melanocephala), and the endangered black-eared miner (M. melanotis). The yellow-throated miner, black-eared miner, and noisy miner are very similar in appearance and were previously classified in the genus Myzantha, which is still sometimes listed as the subgenus for those species. From genetic analysis, the closest relatives to the genus Manorina are the New Guinea and New Britain Melidectes honeyeaters. [9]

There are five subspecies of the yellow-throated miner: Manorina flavigula melvillenis (Mathews, 1912), Manorina flavigula lutea (Gould, 1840), Manorina flavigula wayensis (Mathews, 1912), Manorina flavigula flavigula (Gould, 1840), and Manorina flavigula obscura (Gould, 1841). [10] M. f. lutea was called the luteous honeyeater, meaning golden or saffron yellow, by Gould, and was recognized as a separate species as recently as 1913. [3] M. f. obscura was previously classified with the black-eared miner as the dusky miner, [11] though the yellow-throated obscura subspecies does not overlap in range with the black-eared miner. [7] One of the principal threats to the endangered black-eared miner is that they readily hybridize with yellow-throated miners where they co-exist, making some suggest that the black-eared miner should be considered a subspecies of the yellow-throated miner. [12] [13] However, further research has demonstrated that before dramatic alteration of the black-eared miner's preferred mallee habitat began around 1950, the two species had separable phenotypic characters, so they should be considered separate species. [14]

Description

In Yulara, Northern Territory, Australia Manorina flavigula -Yulara, Northern Territory, Australia -head-8.jpg
In Yulara, Northern Territory, Australia

The yellow-throated miner's color and shape is very similar to the closely related noisy and black-eared miners. A medium-sized honeyeater, it reaches a total length of 22 to 28 centimetres (8.7–11.0 in), [5] a wing length of 12–13.8 cm (4.7–5.4 in), [15] and a bill length of 25 mm (0.9  in). [7] Adult yellow-throated miners weigh between 50 g (1.8 oz)and 61 g (2.2 oz). [15] Yellow-throated, black-eared and noisy miners share a dark grey dorsal surface with medium grey patterning on the feathers. Wings are dark grey with varying levels of yellow highlighting. The ventral feathering is light grey to white with light grey scalloping on the chest. The feathering surrounding the eye is black. The beak and bare skin-patch around the eyes are bright yellow, and the iris is brown. Legs are also yellow, though shade and brightness varies. Fledgling birds have undefined, fluffy light grey chests without scalloping. Immature birds can be identified in the hand by retained juvenile remiges and rectrices, which are more brownish. [15] Yellow-throated miners are distinctive from the other miners by their clean white rump, instead of the continuous grey from the back that the noisy and black-eared miners have. The white-rump is clearly visible as yellow-throated miners are flying away, so this feature is often used in the field where two miner species overlap. Yellow-throated miners have a varying amount of yellow highlighting above and below the beak, on the forehead and chin, as well as on the sides of the throat. This differs from noisy miners which have white above the beak and no yellow highlighting on the forehead or neck, but can have a small amount of yellow on the chin. Yellow-throated miners have paler feathering on the lower jaw compared to the throat, while pure black-eared miners have darker feathering on the lower jaw compared to that of the throat. Hybrids between the yellow-throated and black-eared miners have a range of rump and lower jaw shades. [16] The different races of yellow-throated miner have small color and size variation. M. f. obscura is known for being darker and M. f. lutea is yellower. [10]

Distribution and habitat

The yellow-throated miner has the widest distribution of the Manorina species, and it is found across most of Australia, except east of the Great Dividing Range, on Cape York Peninsula, the very north-eastern Northern Territory, and small patches of the driest parts in Central Australia. M. f. wayensis has the largest distribution across the middle of Western Australia through to Western Queensland. M. f. flavigula is the easternmost sub-species, and covers most of Queensland except Cape York and the coast from South East Queensland south and extends south through New South Wales and inland Victoria. M. f. lutea extends across the northern parts of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. M. f. obscura occurs in south-western Western Australia . M. f. melvillenis is found in the very northern part of the Northern Territory. [7]

Yellow-throated miners are primarily found in arid and semi-arid regions, but do extend into temperate, subtropical, and tropical areas. They are found in woodlands and scrublands, including acacia, eucalyptus, mallee, and casuarina. [5] Similar to noisy miners they like edges and so adapt well to disturbed habitat, and can be found in regrowth and along roads or next to cleared lands. [17] They like some undergrowth and recolonize restored habitat, but are rarely found in dense growth like mature mallee. [14] [10] Though they prefer some tree cover, yellow-throated miners will venture further into open areas like pastures than noisy miners will.

Behaviour

Yellow-throated miners socializing Yellow-throatedMiner Group-JulieBurgher.jpg
Yellow-throated miners socializing

Behaviour has been observed to be similar to other Manorina species, but the yellow-throated miner is not as well studied as the noisy miner or bell miner. Behaviour comparisons are generally with the noisy miner as they seem to be more similar: both prefer more open forests and adapt well to certain types of disturbed habitats. [18] [5] Yellow-throated miners are possibly less sedentary than the other miner species, [18] though they occur in some locations year around, and there are no known migration patterns for them. They are more often seen in larger groups during the non-breeding season, but these are likely local movements only. [10]

Social organization and aggression

Yellow-throated miners, like the other Manorina species, have a complex social structure and can live in communal groups of up to 50 birds. They are often found in smaller groups of up to a dozen birds, and sometimes in pairs or solitary. [5] No major behaviour studies have been conducted, but they appear to have a similar social structure to noisy miners as they share many calls, postures, and interactive behaviours. Calls are higher pitched than noisy miner calls, but are readily recognizable as a miner call. [5] They are watchful and are often the first to alarm when a predator appears. As with the other miner species, they are known to be very aggressive to other birds, particularly smaller insectivores and honeyeaters. Yellow-throated miners have been observed monopolizing small patches of remnant vegetation along roadsides and dividing paddocks, which cuts off corridors for smaller birds to move through. [17] Yellow-throated miners, like their relatives the bell miner and noisy miner, have been linked to reduced bird species richness and higher psyllid abundance in disturbed mallee in Victoria. [19] However, a follow-up study found that yellow-throated miner removal did not significantly increase avian richness, as it has done in studies with bell miners and noisy miners. [20] Though yellow-throated miners drive away many species and are not afraid to attack larger birds, they have been found to share territory with grey butcherbirds and pied butcherbirds, and even nest in close proximity to those species. This is surprising as butcherbirds are also aggressive species that predate nests and birds, including larger species than yellow-throated miners, but this association may be to improve the mutual defense of both species, as yellow-throated miners are very watchful and noisy at the approach of a predator. [21] Though they are often aggressive to other species, yellow-throated miners have also been observed feeding with mixed flocks of honeyeaters, including noisy miners, white-plumed honeyeaters, friarbirds, and blue-faced honeyeaters. [5]

Feeding

Like most honeyeaters, yellow-throated miners have a varied diet, including invertebrates, nectar, and occasionally fruit. [10] Feeding is an active, gregarious, and noisy activity generally carried out in small groups of five to ten, but sometimes in pairs, occasionally large groups, and sometimes with other honeyeater species. [5] Yellow-throated miners forage in the canopy, probing flowers for nectar and gleaning leaves and bark for spiders and insects. [5] However, they do less gleaning than the other miners. Yellow-throated miners will catch insects on the wing, using a sally-stall method around 6% of the time, and they use more wing-powered maneuvers than the other Manorina species. [22] They also forage on the ground, probing around herbs, leaf litter, and stones for invertebrates. [10] Ratio of insects to nectar varies between studies from 65:35 [22] to 70:30. [23] Chicks are fed almost exclusively insects until they fledge and begin exploring flowers for nectar. [5]

Breeding

Yellow-throated miner family, Kilcowera Station, QLD Yellow-throatedMinerFamily.jpg
Yellow-throated miner family, Kilcowera Station, QLD

As with the other Manorina species, cooperative and colonial breeding is common, but breeding has also been recorded in isolated pairs. [5] Pair breeding attempts without helpers have a higher failure rate. [10] Breeding has been recorded throughout the year, but is most common from August through October, and multiple clutches are common. [10] The nest is a standard cup or bowl nest built into the fork of a tree with good cover. [24] It is built of woven twigs and grasses and a thick soft interior lining, often of wool. It is similar, but more substantive than the nest of the noisy miner. [24] Clutch size is typically three or four eggs, but there are recordings of both two and five eggs. Eggs are pink-buff eggs with spots concentrated on the larger end. [24] Females typically do all the incubation, but males have been recorded incubating in strong wind. Eggs hatch after an incubation period of 15–16 days. Both parents and any available helpers will feed young in the nest. [5] Up to seven birds have been observed at nests. [18] Helpers are unstudied in yellow-throated miners, but are generally young or unmated males in both bell miners and noisy miners. Nests can be parasitized by either the pallid cuckoo or common koel. [10] Parasitism by pallid cuckoos has been observed to be as high as 12%. [25]

Hybridization and the black-eared miner

Left is a hybrid yellow-throated x black-eared miner (note dark stripe under lower mandible, less yellow on throat, and darker head) while right is a typical yellow-throated miner, Gluepot Reserve HybridandYellow-throatedMiner-JulieBurgher.jpg
Left is a hybrid yellow-throated × black-eared miner (note dark stripe under lower mandible, less yellow on throat, and darker head) while right is a typical yellow-throated miner, Gluepot Reserve

Yellow-throated miners can hybridize with both noisy miners and endangered black-eared miners, but hybrids with noisy miners seem rare, even though their ranges overlap significantly and they are seen in mixed flocks. [26] However, hybridization with black-eared miners is one of the greatest threats to the black-eared miner's continued existence. [27] Black-eared miners prefer thick, mature mallee habitat, so only infrequently encountered yellow-throated miners until the mature mallee clearing in the mid-twentieth century. Disturbed and partially cleared lands are preferred by the yellow-throated miner, which quickly expanded into the newly opened landscape and began breeding with the black-eared miner. Analysis shows that prior to 1950 the two species had distinct phenotypes, but today there is a continuum due to hybridization. [19] Culls of yellow-throated miners have been done to try to prevent hybridization in reserves that hold the small populations of remaining genetically distinct black-eared miners. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noisy miner</span> Bird in the honeyeater family from eastern Australia

The noisy miner is a bird in the honeyeater family, Meliphagidae, and is endemic to eastern and southeastern Australia. This miner is a grey bird, with a black head, orange-yellow beak and feet, a distinctive yellow patch behind the eye, and white tips on the tail feathers. The Tasmanian race has a more intense yellow panel in the wing, and a broader white tip to the tail. Males, females and juveniles are similar in appearance, though young birds are a brownish-grey. As the common name suggests, the noisy miner is a vocal species with a large range of songs, calls, scoldings and alarms, and almost constant vocalisations, particularly from young birds. One of four species in the genus Manorina, the noisy miner itself is divided into four subspecies. The separation of the Tasmanian M. m. leachi is of long standing, and the mainland birds were further split in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-eared miner</span> Species of bird

The black-eared miner is an endangered honeyeater endemic to mallee woodland in south-eastern Australia.

<i>Manorina</i> Genus of birds

Manorina is a genus of Australian endemic honeyeaters, containing four species: the black-eared miner the yellow-throated miner, the noisy miner and the bell miner. The genus is notable for the complex social organisation of its species, which live in colonies that can be further subdivided into coteries and nest contingents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bell miner</span> Species of bird

The bell miner, commonly known as the bellbird, is a colonial honeyeater, endemic to southeastern Australia. The common name refers to their bell-like call. 'Miner' is an old alternative spelling of 'myna', and is shared with other members of the genus Manorina. The birds feed almost exclusively on the dome-like coverings, referred to as 'bell lerps', of certain psyllid bugs that feed on eucalyptus sap from the leaves. The psyllids make these bell lerps from their own honeydew secretions in order to protect themselves from predators and the environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue-faced honeyeater</span> Species of bird

The blue-faced honeyeater, also colloquially known as the bananabird, is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family, Meliphagidae. It is the only member of its genus, and it is most closely related to honeyeaters of the genus Melithreptus. Three subspecies are recognised. At around 29.5 cm (11.6 in) in length, the blue-faced species is large for a honeyeater. Its plumage is distinctive, with olive upperparts, white underparts, and a black head and throat with white nape and cheeks. Males and females are similar in external appearance. Adults have a blue area of bare skin on each side of the face readily distinguishing them from juveniles, which have yellow or green patches of bare skin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pied butcherbird</span> Black and white songbird native to Australia

The pied butcherbird is a songbird native to Australia. Described by John Gould in 1837, it is a black and white bird 28 to 32 cm long with a long hooked bill. Its head and throat are black, making a distinctive hood; the mantle and much of the tail and wings are also black. The neck, underparts and outer wing feathers are white. The juvenile and immature birds are predominantly brown and white. As they mature their brown feathers are replaced by black feathers. There are two recognised subspecies of pied butcherbird.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-eared honeyeater</span> Species of bird

The white-eared honeyeater is a medium-sized honeyeater found in Australia. It is a member of the family Meliphagidae which has 190 recognised species with about half of them found in Australia. This makes them members of the most diverse family of birds in Australia. White-eared honeyeaters are easily identifiable by their olive-green body, black head and white ear-patch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Striped honeyeater</span> Species of bird

The striped honeyeater is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family, Meliphagidae, found in Australia. It is a medium-sized honeyeater, about 23 cm (9.1 in) in length. Both sexes are a light greyish brown with dark brown centres to the feathers, which give the appearance of stripes. The stripes are particularly distinct on the head and back of the neck. While it is found mainly in inland eastern Australia where it inhabits the drier open forest, it is also found in coastal swamp forest from southeast Queensland to the central coast of New South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pied honeyeater</span> Species of bird

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mangrove honeyeater</span> Species of bird

The mangrove honeyeater is a species of bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. The species was once considered to be conspecific with the varied honeyeater, but it is now treated as a separate species. These two species form a genus with the singing honeyeater.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2016). "Manorina flavigula". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22704436A93968643. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22704436A93968643.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "Manorina (Myzantha) flavigula (Gould, 1840) Yellow-throated Miner". Atlas of Living Australia. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 Fraser, Ian; Gray, Jeannie (2013). Australian Bird Names : a Complete Guide. Collingwood, Vic.: CSIRO Publishing. p. 204. ISBN   9780643104693.
  4. ↑ Cvjlang. "The Bell Miner". Spicks & Specks. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Higgins, P.J.; Peter, J. M.; Steele, W. K. (2001). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds. Vol. 5: Tyrant-flycatchers to Chats (1st ed.). South Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press. pp. 650–663. ISBN   978-0195532586.
  6. ↑ Barker, R. D.; Vestjens, W. J. M. (1984). The Food of Australian Birds 2 Passerines (1st ed.). Melbourne, Australia: Melbourne University Press. pp. 199–201. ISBN   978-0643051157.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Menkhorst, Peter; Rogers, Danny; Clarke, Rohan; Davies, Jeff; Marsack, Peter; Franklin, Kim (2017). The Australian Bird Guide (1st ed.). Victoria: CSIRO Publishing. pp. 404–405. ISBN   9780643097544.
  8. ↑ Jobling, James A. (2010). "Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird-names". pp.  162, 240. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
  9. 1 2 Gardner, Janet L.; Trueman, John W.H.; Ebert, Daniel; Joseph, Leo; Magrath, Robert D. (June 2010). "Phylogeny and evolution of the Meliphagoidea, the largest radiation of Australasian songbirds". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 55 (3): 1087–1102. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.02.005. PMID   20152917.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Higgins, P.; Christidis, L.; Ford, H. "Yellow-throated Miner (Manorina flavigula) in Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive!. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  11. ↑ Officer, Brigadier Hugh R. (1964). Australian Honeyeaters (2nd ed.). Melbourne: The Bird Observers Club, Melbourne. pp. 71–73.
  12. ↑ Shodde, R.; Mason, I. J. (1999). The Directory of Australian Birds: Passerines (1st ed.). Canberra, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. p. 49. ISBN   9780643100862.
  13. ↑ Christidis, Les; Boles, Water E. (2008). Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds (1st ed.). Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing. p.  189. ISBN   9780643065116.
  14. 1 2 Clarke, Rohan H.; Gordon, Ian R.; Clarke, Michael F (2001). "Intraspecific phenotypic variability in the black-eared miner (Manorina melanotis); human-facilitated introgression and the consequences for an endangered taxon". Biological Conservation. 99 (2): 145–155. doi:10.1016/s0006-3207(00)00163-4.
  15. 1 2 3 Hardy, J. W. "Yellow-throated Miner Manorina flavigula Species No.: 635 Band size: 05 (06)" (PDF). Bird in the Hand (2nd ed.). Australian Bird Study Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-26. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  16. ↑ Hardy, J. W. "Black-eared Miner Manorina melanotis Species No.: 967 Band size: 05" (PDF). Bird in the Hand (2nd ed.). Australian Bird Study Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  17. 1 2 Clarke, Michael F.; Taylor, Richard; Oldland, Joanne; Grey, Merilyn J.; Dare, Amanda (2007). "Challenges in managing miners". The Victorian Naturalist. 124 (2): 102–105.
  18. 1 2 3 Dow, Douglas D. (1980). "Communally breeding Australian birds with an analysis of distributional and environmental factors". Emu. 80 (3): 121–140. doi:10.1071/mu9800121.
  19. 1 2 O'Loughlin, Thea; 0'Loughlin, Luke S.; Clarke, Michael F. (2014). "Influence of the yellow-throated miner (Manorina flavigula) on bird communities and tree health in a fragmented landscape". Wildlife Research. 41 (6): 537–544. doi:10.1071/wr14174. S2CID   53382290.
  20. 1 2 O'Loughlin, Thea; O'Loughlin, Luke S.; Clarke, Michael F. (2017). "No short-term change in avian assemblage following removal of Yellow-throated Miner (Manorina flavigula) colonies". Ecological Management & Restoration. 18 (1): 83–87. doi:10.1111/emr.12244. hdl: 1885/113431 .
  21. ↑ Fulton, Graham R. (2008). "A possible territorial and nesting association between pied and grey butcherbirds Cracticus nigrogularis and c. torquatus and the yellow-throated miner Manorina flavigula". Corella. 32 (2): 30–34.
  22. 1 2 Wagner, Sarah Katherine (2015). Thesis: Foraging Behavior, Behavioral Flexibility, and Range Size of Australian Honeyeaters (Meliphagidae). Colorado: University of Colorado. pp. 46–47.
  23. ↑ Ford, Hugh A. (1979). "Interspecific competition in Australian honeyeaters- depletion of common resources". Australian Journal of Ecology. 4 (2): 145–164. doi:10.1111/j.1442-9993.1979.tb01205.x.
  24. 1 2 3 Beruldsen, Gordon (2003). Australian Birds their Nests and Eggs (1st ed.). Kenmore Hills, QLD: G. Beruldsen. p. 314. ISBN   978-0646427980.
  25. ↑ Landstroma, M. T.; Heinsohnb, R.; Langmorea, N. E. (2011). "Does clutch variability differ between populations of cuckoo hosts in relation to the rate of parasitism?". Animal Behaviour. 81 (1): 307–312. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2010.10.022. S2CID   53195871.
  26. ↑ Ford, HA (1981). "A comment on the relationships between miners Manorina spp. in South Australia". Emu. 81 (4): 247–250. doi:10.1071/mu9810247.
  27. ↑ Gernett, ST; Szabo, JK; Dutson, G (2011). The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2010. Collingwood, Victoria: CSIROPublishing. pp. 358–359. ISBN   9780643103689.
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