Black-chinned Honeyeater
Encyclopedia
The Black-chinned Honeyeater (Melithreptus gularis) is a species of passerine
bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is endemic to Australia
. Two subspecies are recognised. Its natural habitat
s are temperate forest
s and subtropical or tropical dry forests.
The Black-chinned Honeyeater was first described by John Gould in 1837. He also described what he called the Golden-backed Honeyeater of northern Australia in 1875, now considered a subspecies as there is a broad band of overlap with intermediate forms.
It is a member of the genus Melithreptus
with several species, of similar size and (apart from the Brown-headed Honeyeater
) black-headed appearance, in the honeyeater
family Meliphagidae. Molecular markers show the Black-chinned Honeyeater is most closely related to the Brown-headed, while the similarly plumaged Strong-billed Honeyeater
was actually an earlier offshoot between 6.7 and 3.4 million years ago.
A mid-sized honeyeater ranging from 14 to 16 cm (5.6–6.4 in) in length, it is olive brown above and buff below, with a black head, nape and throat, with a bluish patch of bare skin over the eye and a white crescent-shaped patch on the nape. The legs and feet are orange. Juveniles have an all-over browner plumage. It makes a scratchy creep-creep-creep call, as well as a more musical one.
The range is across northern Australia, from northwest Western Australia from the Kimberley, Pilbara, Great Sandy and northern Gibson Deserts, the Top End and the Gulf Country and Cape York of Queensland, through central and eastern Queensland and into central New South Wales. It occurs east of the Great Divide in the Northern Rivers region but is rare further south and appears to have declined in the Sydney region. It is found across central and northern Victoria and into eastern South Australia. It is considered vulnerable in New South Wales, and South Australia, although is secure overall. It lives in open woodland and dry sclerophyll forest, often near watercourses.
Insects form the bulk of the diet, and like its close relatives the Brown-headed and Strong-billed Honeyeaters, the Black-chinned Honeyeater forages by probing in bark of trunks and branches of trees.
Black-chinned Honeyeaters may nest from July to December, breeding once or twice during this time. The nest is a thick-walled bowl of grasses and bits of bark lined with softer plant material hidden in the outer foliage of a tall tree, usually a eucalypt. One or (more commonly) two eggs are laid, 22 × 16 mm and shiny buff-pink sparsely spotted with red-brown (more on larger end).
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is endemic to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Two subspecies are recognised. Its natural habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
s are temperate forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s and subtropical or tropical dry forests.
The Black-chinned Honeyeater was first described by John Gould in 1837. He also described what he called the Golden-backed Honeyeater of northern Australia in 1875, now considered a subspecies as there is a broad band of overlap with intermediate forms.
It is a member of the genus Melithreptus
Melithreptus
Melithreptus is a genus of bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. Its members are native to Australia. It is generally considered to contain seven species, although some authors have classified the related Blue-faced Honeyeater within this genus....
with several species, of similar size and (apart from the Brown-headed Honeyeater
Brown-headed Honeyeater
The Brown-headed Honeyeater is a species of passerine bird in the Meliphagidae family.It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation....
) black-headed appearance, in the honeyeater
Honeyeater
The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family of small to medium sized birds most common in Australia and New Guinea, but also found in New Zealand, the Pacific islands as far east as Samoa and Tonga, and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea known as Wallacea...
family Meliphagidae. Molecular markers show the Black-chinned Honeyeater is most closely related to the Brown-headed, while the similarly plumaged Strong-billed Honeyeater
Strong-billed Honeyeater
The Strong-billed Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family.It is one of two species of the genus Melithreptus endemic to Tasmania.Its natural habitat is temperate forests.-Taxonomy:...
was actually an earlier offshoot between 6.7 and 3.4 million years ago.
A mid-sized honeyeater ranging from 14 to 16 cm (5.6–6.4 in) in length, it is olive brown above and buff below, with a black head, nape and throat, with a bluish patch of bare skin over the eye and a white crescent-shaped patch on the nape. The legs and feet are orange. Juveniles have an all-over browner plumage. It makes a scratchy creep-creep-creep call, as well as a more musical one.
The range is across northern Australia, from northwest Western Australia from the Kimberley, Pilbara, Great Sandy and northern Gibson Deserts, the Top End and the Gulf Country and Cape York of Queensland, through central and eastern Queensland and into central New South Wales. It occurs east of the Great Divide in the Northern Rivers region but is rare further south and appears to have declined in the Sydney region. It is found across central and northern Victoria and into eastern South Australia. It is considered vulnerable in New South Wales, and South Australia, although is secure overall. It lives in open woodland and dry sclerophyll forest, often near watercourses.
Insects form the bulk of the diet, and like its close relatives the Brown-headed and Strong-billed Honeyeaters, the Black-chinned Honeyeater forages by probing in bark of trunks and branches of trees.
Black-chinned Honeyeaters may nest from July to December, breeding once or twice during this time. The nest is a thick-walled bowl of grasses and bits of bark lined with softer plant material hidden in the outer foliage of a tall tree, usually a eucalypt. One or (more commonly) two eggs are laid, 22 × 16 mm and shiny buff-pink sparsely spotted with red-brown (more on larger end).