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Brown Honeyeater in Brisbane
I’m in Brisbane for a few days. Early yesterday, I went for a walk along the banks of the Brisbane River. A Brown Honeyeater perched for long enough for me to get a picture. It’s a small, neat bird, with a curved beak and buff-coloured front. The wings and back are olive to brown, with yellow on the wing edges. I think the most striking feature is the dark stripe around the eye, with a yellow touch behind the eye when the light catches it just right.
This is only the second time I’ve spotted a Brown Honeyeater, although they’re quite common. The first one that I saw was also in Queensland, at the botanical gardens in Maleny.
Common name: Brown Honeyeater
Scientific name: Lichmera indistincta
Length: 12-16 cm
Date spotted: 27 June 2025 (winter)
Location: Brisbane River, New Farm, Brisbane, Australia: 27°27’55.3″S 153°03’09.6″E
Brown Honeyeater at Maleny
A little Brown Honeyeater was feeding on flowers at the botanical gardens in Maleny, Queensland. Brown Honeyeaters are rather drab little birds, and I didn’t get a good photo of this one. But it’s worth posting as a first sighting:
These little birds are very similar to Fuscous Honeyeaters. I identified this one with the help of the Australian Birds sub-Reddit. This bird doesn’t have the yellow patch on the neck that Fuscous Honeyeaters have. And this bird’s beak is more curved than the Fuscous beak. The next photo shows the curved beak, albeit on the other side of a twig!
There’s also a hint of yellow at the edge of the eye, as well as that lovely dark eye mask:
Common name: Brown Honeyeater
Scientific name: Lichmera indistincta
Length: 12-16 cm
Date spotted: 6 July 2024 (winter)
Location: Maleny Botanic Gardens, Queensland: 26°46’54.7″S 152°50’04.0″E
Sydney Birder 