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Evocative call of the Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
This is the last of my posts from our recent trip out west into the Great Outback, and I’ve left the best to last. Like almost all my postings from this trip, this is a first sighting for me.
While I was wondering around on Mungo Lodge, on the outskirts of Lake Mungo, a beautiful, mournful whistle seemed to follow me. At first I thought a person was whistling. (There were other people taking photos in the area.)
Eventually, after ducking under the low branches of trees and taking plentiful photos and videos, I found the whistler: A Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater. Even then, I wasn’t sure, and asked for confirmation on r/AustralianBirds.
Here’s a Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater:
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/mungo-spiny-cheeked-honeyeater-img_6608-cropped-small.jpg?w=962)
They’re distinctive-looking birds, with that pink line extending from the beak under the eye, a pale blue eye, and a cinnamon-yellow chest.
This video is a bit shaky, but shows one of the birds singing. The call that particularly struck me is the five-note, falling whistle, at 13 seconds into the video and then again at 25 seconds:
In the next video, it’s not as clear which birds are making the call, but there are some nice instances of the call itself, especially from 32 seconds into the video:
Another still shot of one of the birds:
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/mungo-spiny-cheeked-honeyeater-img_6613-cropped-small.jpg?w=1000)
Common name: Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
Scientific name: Acanthagenys rufogularis
Approximate length: 23-26 cm
Date spotted: 20-21 May 2024 (autumn)
Location: Mungo Lodge, Mungo National Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°44’31.4″S 143°00’06.1″E
New Holland Honeyeater drinking from Mountain Devil flower
New Holland Honeyeaters are small birds that feed on nectar from flowers, as well as small insects. This video shows one of them drinking from the red, cup-shaped flower of a Mountain Devil bush (Lambertia formosa).
New Holland Honeyeaters are just one of the many types of birds labelled honeyeaters in Australia. It’s a varied and raucous group!
I did take a still photo of the bird, but it’s a bit fuzzy due to the early morning dimness:
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/new-holland-honeyeater-img_5190.jpg?w=1024)
After watching the bird a while, I walked further along the path and took a photo looking back the way I’d come. The bird was at the very end of the path in this picture, near the water. In the distance are the two headlands that form the mouth of Sydney Harbour:
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/new-holland-honeyeater-img_5192.jpg?w=1024)
Common name: New Holland Honeyeater
Scientific name: Phylidonyris novaehollandiae
Approximate length: 17-19 cm
Date spotted: 23 March 2024 (summer)
Location: Dobroyd Head, New South Wales, Australia: 33°48’38.0″S 151°16’24.3″E
Blue-faced Honeyeater: my first sighting
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):
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/blue-faced-honeyeater-img_5104-cropped.jpg?w=1024)
This is the youngster — the skin around the eye is mostly green, but already changing to blue:
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/blue-faced-honeyeater-img_5083-cropped.jpg?w=1024)
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:
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/blue-faced-honeyeater-img_5088-cropped.jpg?w=962)
Both birds have a lovely olive-green back and a white front with an extended black bib.
Here’s the adult again:
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/blue-faced-honeyeater-img_5091-cropped.jpg?w=695)
In the next photo, the bird has twisted its neck up to take a look at me. Well, hello there:
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/blue-faced-honeyeater-img_5106-cropped.jpg?w=1024)
The last picture shows that white band on the head again:
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/blue-faced-honeyeater-img_5107-cropped.jpg?w=731)
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
Little Wattlebird on Old Man Banksia
In the early morning light, this Little Wattlebird sits among the sunlit leaves of an Old Man Banksia tree.
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/wattlebird-img_4907-cropped.jpg?w=1024)
Common name: Little Wattlebird
Scientific name: Anthochaera chrysoptera
Approximate length: 30 cm
Date spotted: 17 February 2024 (summer)
Location: Dobroyd Head Track, Balgowlah, New South Wales, Australia: 33°48’33.2″S 151°16’14.1″E
White-cheeked Honeyeater enjoying the spring blossoms
A White-cheeked Honeyeater peeks out from a flower-covered bush. The bird is mostly black and white, but you can just make out some of the yellow markings on its wings and tail:
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/white-cheeked-honeyeater-img_3893-trunc.jpg?w=1024)
If you have trouble distinguishing these little birds from New Holland Honeyeaters, you’re not alone! This one has the black eye and large white cheek patch that identify it as a White-cheeked Honeyeater. A while ago, I took some photos of both birds to compare them.
Common name: White-cheeked Honeyeater
Scientific name: Phylidonyris nigra
Approximate length: 16-19 cm
Date spotted: 20 November 2023 (spring)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’30.3″S 151°14’46.6″E
My first Lewin’s Honeyeater
Australia hosts several types of honeyeater, and I’ve spotted a few of them over the lifetime of this blog. Recently I saw my very first Lewin’s Honeyeater:
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/lewins-honeyeater-img_2849.jpg?w=1024)
Lewin’s Honeyeater is a medium-sized bird. As is the case with other honeyeaters, nectar forms a major part of their diet. They also eat fruits and insects. They have a distinctive, crescent-shaped yellow ear patch as well as a light yellow stripe under each eye.
According to my bird book, they’re “abundant”, especially in the wetter areas of eucalypt forests. I’ll keep a look out now that I know they’re around.
Common name: Lewin’s Honeyeater
Scientific name: Meliphaga lewinii
Approximate length: 19-22 cm
Date spotted: 5 June, 2023 (winter)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’47.6″S 151°14’53.2″E
Yellow-faced Honeyeater near Capertee
Yet another first sighting for me: a Yellow-faced Honeyeater that I spotted during last week’s trip out west of Sydney. I was taking an early-morning walk in the countryside near the little town of Capertee. It’s gorgeous out there. Rolling hills, vistas of the Blue Mountains, Eucalypt forests, and green grassy clearings.
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/yellow-faced-honeyeater-img_2563-cropped.jpg?w=1024)
Yellow-faced Honeyeaters feed on manna, nectar, and small insects. They get their name from the yellow streak that runs across the face below the eye. The streak is bordered in black. Other colours on the bird range from off-white to grey-brown, with olive-yellow edges on the wings.
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/yellow-faced-honeyeater-img_2566-cropped.jpg?w=1024)
Common name: Yellow-faced Honeyeater
Scientific name: Lichenostomus chrisops
Approximate length: 16-18 cm
Date spotted: 23 April 2023 (autumn)
Location: Long Ridge, Capertee, New South Wales, Australia: 33°09’53.9″S 150°00’06.2″E
Soft colours of a young Little Wattlebird
This bird was busy gathering food on an Old Man Banksia tree (Banksia serrata). It has a small insect in its beak:
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/little-wattle-bird-img_2430.jpg?w=1024)
I think the bird is a Little Wattlebird, though others that I’ve seen have been darker and greyer in colour. Perhaps it’s a juvenile. I considered an oriole, but the stripes on this bird’s chest are more like those of a wattlebird than an oriole, and the shapes of the beak and head are closer to those of a wattlebird too.
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/little-wattle-bird-img_2419.jpg?w=1024)
Little Wattlebirds don’t have the red wattles that give this genus its name. These birds are classified as honeyeaters, but like most honeyeaters they’ll grab a passing insect too. This bird was at Dobroyd Head, one of the pieces of land that jut into Sydney Harbour.
Here’s a view that shows more of the wings and back:
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/little-wattle-bird-img_2426.jpg?w=1024)
Common name: Little Wattlebird
Scientific name: Anthochaera chrysoptera
Approximate length: 30 cm
Date spotted: 11 March 2023 (autumn)
Location: Dobroyd Head Track, Balgowlah, New South Wales, Australia: 33°48’33.2″S 151°16’14.1″E
Scarlet Honeyeater at Dobroyd Head
A little Scarlet Honeyeater adds a dash of colour to a wintry day:
It’s interesting that the bird was focusing on the Red Spider Flowers (Grevillea). Perhaps it’s not a crazy idea to be bright red in colour if you spend your time among red flowers! I’ve read that these birds also frequent Bottlebrush shrubs (Callistemon) which are also red.
This is only my second sighting of a Scarlet Honeyeater. They’re small and move fast, which makes it hard to get a good shot. Here’s still photo of the same bird, a male:
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/scarlet-honeyeater-img_0528-cropped.jpg?w=1024)
Scarlet Honeyeaters feed mainly on the nectar from flowers, hence their name. Sometimes they catch insects.
A female was close by. This photo shows the bird’s curved beak, a good tool for probing blossoms in search of nectar:
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/scarlet-honeyeater-img_0531-cropped.jpg?w=1024)
Common name: Scarlet Honeyeater
Scientific name: Myzomela sanguinolenta
Approximate length: 10 cm
Date spotted: 17 July 2022 (winter)
Location: Dobroyd Head, New South Wales, Australia: 33°48’36.4″S 151°16’19.0″E