Grey Honeyeater
A species of Conopophila Honeyeaters Scientific name : Conopophila whitei Genus : Conopophila Honeyeaters
Grey Honeyeater, A species of Conopophila Honeyeaters
Botanical name: Conopophila whitei
Genus: Conopophila Honeyeaters
Content
Description General Info
Description
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). 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. The colour of the iris is brown, the legs are steel grey. 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. 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. Care should be taken to distinguish the grey honeyeater from the female redthroat (Pyrrholaemus brunneus)
Size
13 cm
Nest Placement
Shrub
Feeding Habits
Grey Honeyeater's diet mainly consists of lerp and other insects, with a unique behavior of piercing flowers for nectar, favoring Eremophila. It feeds actively on foliage and in flight, also consuming mistletoe nectar and berries.
Habitat
The habitat of grey Honeyeater primarily includes low acacia woodlands and shrublands, which are often characterized by dominant mulga forests, alongside other Acacia species, and a sparse understory of shrubs. Grey Honeyeater is typically associated with stony or sandy creekbed environments and may show a preference for mature vegetation stands. This species is also found in sandhill regions where canegrass, beefwood, red mulga, and eucalypts are present. Occasionally, grey Honeyeater can adapt to man-made environments, inhabiting gardens in urban or farming areas.
Dite type
Insectivorous
General Info
Feeding Habits
Bird food type
Distribution Area
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. It is rare to uncommon and probably sedentary with some nomadic movement. The species is found in semi-arid mulga (Acacia aneura) and similar acacia scrublands. The occurrence of mistletoe may be an important factor in determining its distribution. 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.
Species Status
The grey honeyeater is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List. It is considered as endangered in Western Australia. Threats are uncontrolled fires from which mulga takes many years to recover, and also grazing by introduced animals that damage the habitat.
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Perching birds Family
Honeyeaters Genus
Conopophila Honeyeaters Species
Grey Honeyeater