It’s always exciting to see a bird species for the first time. Yesterday I saw my first Blue-faced Honeyeater. There were two of them in a Red Bottlebrush (Callistemon) bush, one an adult and the other a juvenile.

This bird is an adult — you can tell by the fact that the patch of skin around its eye is entirely blue (rather than green):

This is the youngster — the skin around the eye is mostly green, but already changing to blue:

Blue-faced Honeyeaters are larger than most other honeyeaters that I’ve seen. Like most honeyeaters, they make quite a noise! It was their enthusiastic cackles and comments that drew me to the bush where they were feeding on nectar.

Here’s another view of the youngster, showing the two white bands that extend from the eye patches and almost meet at the back of the head:

Both birds have a lovely olive-green back and a white front with an extended black bib.

Here’s the adult again:

In the next photo, the bird has twisted its neck up to take a look at me. Well, hello there:

The last picture shows that white band on the head again:

Common name: Blue-faced Honeyeater
Scientific name: Entomyzon cyanotis
Approximate length: 25-31 cm.
Date spotted: 3 March 2024 (summer)
Location: Laguna, New South Wales, Australia: 32°59’25.4″S 151°07’52.8″E