Striped Honeyeater
Encyclopedia
The Striped Honeyeater (Plectorhyncha lanceolata) is a passerine bird of the honeyeater
family, Meliphagidae, found in Australia. It is a medium sized honeyeater, about 23 centimetres (9.1 in) in length. Both sexes are a light greyish brown with dark brown centres to the feathers, which give the appearance of stripes. The stripes are particularly distinct on the head and back of the neck. While it is found mainly in inland eastern Australia where it inhabits the drier open forests, it is also found in coastal swamp forests from south east Queensland
to the central coast of New South Wales.
Although a honeyeater, the Striped Honeyeater relies on insects as its major food source, and its bill has been adapted to an insect diet. When not breeding it has been recorded feeding and travelling in small groups, but it nests singly, laying around three eggs in a deep cup-shaped nest suspended from the end of drooping branches. It is widely distributed and common within its range, thus the population is listed as being of "least concern
" for conservation.
, in A Synopsis of the Birds of Australia and the Adjacent Islands, published in 1838. It is a member of the family Meliphagidae, the honeyeaters, and the sole member of the monotypic
genus Plectorhyncha. Molecular studies indicate that genus is closely allied to the monotypic genus Grantiella, though dissimilar in appearance. The Painted Honeyeater
(Grantiella picta) and the Striped Honeyeater are part of a subclade
that includes also Philemon
and Xanthotis
.
The genus name Plectorhyncha is derived from a combination of the Greek words for ‘a spear point’ and ‘the bill’ and refers to the fine pointed bill. The species name lanceolata comes from the Latin for ‘lance-shaped’ in reference to the long pointed feathers on the throat and breast. The bird is also referred to as the Lanceolated Honeyeater.
Honeyeaters are related to the Pardalotidae (pardalotes), Acanthizidae
(Australian warblers, scrubwrens, thornbills, etc.), and the Maluridae
(Australian fairy-wrens) in a large Meliphagoidea
superfamily.
The upper parts are generally light greyish brown with dark brown centres to the feathers, giving the appearance of stripes. These stripes are marked on the head and nape
, less distinct on the rump and almost absent from the upper tail coverts
. The underparts are whitish with faint streaks on the belly. The feathers of the upper breast and throat are long and pointed, giving the head a spiky appearance. The wing and tail are both moderately long with a rounded tip. The bill is short, with a sharp pointed appearance, dark blue-grey grading to a grey-black at the tip and around the nostril
s. Legs and feet are blue-grey with black claws. The bare skin around the eye is dark brown and the iris a dark black-brown.
Males and females are similar in appearance. Juvenile birds are slightly browner than the adults, with buff or brown edges to the feathers of the wings and back. Juveniles have a duller, less streaked appearance than adults. Juveniles moult into adult plumage at around one year old. There is no seasonal difference in the plumage
of breeding birds.
The Striped Honeyeater's song is described as a “chirp, chirp, cherry, cherry”, its contact call as a sharp “chewee” and its alarm call as a shrill whistling note.
s, New South Wales. Small irruptions
associated with weather patterns and habitat changes have been recorded in areas outside its usual range including the Grampians
and the Adelaide Plains
.
It occurs in a wide variety of habitats, including riparian woodlands such as River Red Gum, Bimble Box
and Black Box
with an understory of Lignum
or Saltbush
; mallee woodland, especially where mixed with thickets of Broombush
or Emu Bush
; woodlands of Native Pine
growing on sand ridges; and semi-arid scrubland dominated by Acacia
including Lancewood. On the coast The Striped Honeyeater is found in swamp forests of Paperbark
and Casuarina
, and in developed areas containing native and exotic trees and shrubs such as caravan parks, reserves, gardens, and farms and orchards.
blossoms.
It is arboreal, mostly feeding amongst the foliage in the canopy of trees. Most food is obtained from the leaves, and less often from the bark or flowers and fruit. The major foraging methods are glearing from leaves and dead branches, probing under loose bark and in crevices, probing woody fruits of Black Oak
, probing flowers of Yorrell (Eucalyptus gracilis) and sallying
for insects. The Striped Honeyeater occasionally hangs upside-down to extract insects.
, and travelling in small groups. It engages in a high level of social activity, including perching closely and allopreening
, and when feeding in groups chasing, calling and scolding. The non-breeding Striped Honeyeater is vocal, calling while feeding and perching, though only occasionally calling in flight. It has been recorded engaged in a display of wing raising and calling, and performing duets and call-and-response song.
While the Striped Honeyeater aggressively defends its nest by dive-bombing people and animals who come too close, and has been observed singing from display perches, it is not known to be territorial. It often feeds near other species of honeyeater and no inter-species aggression has been noted.
and feeding the young. However cooperative breeding has been observed, with a third adult bird involved in feeding nestlings. It nests solitarily, and pairs use the same or adjoining trees for nesting over two or more seasons.
The breeding season is from August to January, though dependent on local conditions. The nest site is usually in the drooping foliage of a tall shrub or low tree, such as Casuarina, Melaleuca
, Acacia, and mallee eucalypts. The site is sometimes near to or overhanging water, and the nest is usually constructed at the end of a drooping branch, suspended from twigs or foliage. The Striped Honeyeater often nests in the vicinity of a nesting Butcherbird
. It builds a deep cup-shaped or bag-shaped nest
, with thick walls and the lip of the opening turned slightly inwards. The nest is made from thin dry grass and coated with plant down, feathers or wool, the coating often completely obscuring the grass framework. It is lined with spider webs, hair, wool or rootlets, and on occasion flowers and tissue paper. The Striped Honeyeater will commonly re-use material from previous nests.
The eggs are an elongated oval 24 centimetres (9.4 in) by 17 centimetres (6.7 in) somewhat pointed at one end. They are a dull white, smooth and lustreless or slightly lustrous, and moderately blotched with reddish-brown marks over the whole shell, though more profusely towards and over the larger end. The Striped Honeyeater lays an average of three eggs at 24 hr intervals. The eggs are incubated
by both parents who sit constantly in alternating periods of around twenty minutes for sixteen or seventeen days. The fledging
period is also around sixteen days.
The nests of the Striped Honeyeater are parasitized by the Pallid Cuckoo
(Cacomantis pallidus).
.
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, found in Australia. It is a medium sized honeyeater, about 23 centimetres (9.1 in) in length. Both sexes are a light greyish brown with dark brown centres to the feathers, which give the appearance of stripes. The stripes are particularly distinct on the head and back of the neck. While it is found mainly in inland eastern Australia where it inhabits the drier open forests, it is also found in coastal swamp forests from south east Queensland
South East Queensland
South East Queensland is a region of the state of Queensland in Australia, which contains approximately two-thirds of the state population...
to the central coast of New South Wales.
Although a honeyeater, the Striped Honeyeater relies on insects as its major food source, and its bill has been adapted to an insect diet. When not breeding it has been recorded feeding and travelling in small groups, but it nests singly, laying around three eggs in a deep cup-shaped nest suspended from the end of drooping branches. It is widely distributed and common within its range, thus the population is listed as being of "least concern
Least Concern
Least Concern is an IUCN category assigned to extant taxon or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, Near Threatened, or Conservation Dependent...
" for conservation.
Taxonomy
The Striped Honeyeater was first described by English ornithologist and bird artist, John GouldJohn Gould
John Gould was an English ornithologist and bird artist. The Gould League in Australia was named after him. His identification of the birds now nicknamed "Darwin's finches" played a role in the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection...
, in A Synopsis of the Birds of Australia and the Adjacent Islands, published in 1838. It is a member of the family Meliphagidae, the honeyeaters, and the sole member of the monotypic
Monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...
genus Plectorhyncha. Molecular studies indicate that genus is closely allied to the monotypic genus Grantiella, though dissimilar in appearance. The Painted Honeyeater
Painted Honeyeater
The Painted Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Grantiella.It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests...
(Grantiella picta) and the Striped Honeyeater are part of a subclade
Subclade
In genetics, subclade is a term used to describe a subgroup of a subgenus or haplogroup. It is commonly used today in describing genealogical DNA tests of human mitochondrial DNA haplogroups and human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups....
that includes also Philemon
Friarbird
The friarbirds are about 15 species of relatively large honeyeaters in the genus Philemon. Additionally, the single member of the genus Melitograis is called the White-streaked Friarbird. Friarbirds are found in Australia, Papua New Guinea, eastern Indonesia and New Caledonia...
and Xanthotis
Xanthotis
Xanthotis is a genus of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It contains the following species:* Tawny-breasted Honeyeater * Macleay's Honeyeater * Spotted Honeyeater...
.
The genus name Plectorhyncha is derived from a combination of the Greek words for ‘a spear point’ and ‘the bill’ and refers to the fine pointed bill. The species name lanceolata comes from the Latin for ‘lance-shaped’ in reference to the long pointed feathers on the throat and breast. The bird is also referred to as the Lanceolated Honeyeater.
Honeyeaters are related to the Pardalotidae (pardalotes), Acanthizidae
Acanthizidae
The Acanthizidae, also known as the Australasian warblers, are a family of passerine birds which include gerygones, thornbills, and scrubwrens. The Acanthizidae consists of small to medium passerine birds, with a total length varying between 8 and 19 cm. They have short rounded wings, slender...
(Australian warblers, scrubwrens, thornbills, etc.), and the Maluridae
Maluridae
The Maluridae are a family of small, insectivorous passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea. Commonly known as wrens, they are unrelated to the true wrens of the Northern Hemisphere...
(Australian fairy-wrens) in a large Meliphagoidea
Meliphagoidea
Meliphagoidea is a superfamily of passerine birds. They contain a vast diversity of small to mid-sized songbirds widespread in the Austropacific region. The Australian Continent has the largest richness in genera and species.-Systematics:...
superfamily.
Description
The Striped Honeyeater is a medium-sized honeyeater with a body length of 22–25 cm (8.7–9.8 in), a wingspan of 28–36 cm (11–14.2 in),and an average weight of 40 grams (1.4 oz).The upper parts are generally light greyish brown with dark brown centres to the feathers, giving the appearance of stripes. These stripes are marked on the head and nape
Nape
The nape is the back of the neck. In technical anatomical/medical terminology, the nape is referred to by the word nucha, which also gives the adjective corresponding to "nape" in English, "nuchal"....
, less distinct on the rump and almost absent from the upper tail coverts
Covert (feather)
A covert feather on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts, which as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail.- Wing-coverts :...
. The underparts are whitish with faint streaks on the belly. The feathers of the upper breast and throat are long and pointed, giving the head a spiky appearance. The wing and tail are both moderately long with a rounded tip. The bill is short, with a sharp pointed appearance, dark blue-grey grading to a grey-black at the tip and around the nostril
Nostril
A nostril is one of the two channels of the nose, from the point where they bifurcate to the external opening. In birds and mammals, they contain branched bones or cartilages called turbinates, whose function is to warm air on inhalation and remove moisture on exhalation...
s. Legs and feet are blue-grey with black claws. The bare skin around the eye is dark brown and the iris a dark black-brown.
Males and females are similar in appearance. Juvenile birds are slightly browner than the adults, with buff or brown edges to the feathers of the wings and back. Juveniles have a duller, less streaked appearance than adults. Juveniles moult into adult plumage at around one year old. There is no seasonal difference in the plumage
Plumage
Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a...
of breeding birds.
The Striped Honeyeater's song is described as a “chirp, chirp, cherry, cherry”, its contact call as a sharp “chewee” and its alarm call as a shrill whistling note.
Distribution and habitat
This species is found mainly in eastern Australia, predominantly inland. It inhabits the drier open forests such as mallee and mulga but also heathland and mangroves on the coast. An observer in 1923 was surprised to find a small number of Striped Honeyeaters nesting at Forster on the New South Wales mid-north coast, saying “it is a remarkable fact for this bird to leave its proper habitat so far inland, to come to the coast”. However the range has expanded, and contemporary accounts give its distribution as Eastern Australia from central and south-east Queensland extending inland to south-east South Australia, and to the coast south to the Tuggerah LakeTuggerah Lake
Tuggerah Lake is a large coastal saltwater lake on the Central Coast of New South Wales about north of Sydney. It is connected with the sea through a tidal channel at its southern end known as The Entrance. It is also connected with two smaller lakes, Budgewoi Lake and through that to Lake...
s, New South Wales. Small irruptions
Irruptive growth
Irruptive growth, sometimes called Malthusian growth, is a growth pattern defined by population explosions and subsequent sharp population crashes, or diebacks...
associated with weather patterns and habitat changes have been recorded in areas outside its usual range including the Grampians
Grampians National Park
The Grampians National Park is a national park in Victoria, Australia, 235 kilometres west of Melbourne. The Park was listed on the Australian National Heritage List on 15 December 2006 for its outstanding natural beauty and being one of the richest indigenous rock art sites in south-eastern...
and the Adelaide Plains
Adelaide Plains
The Adelaide Plains is the area in South Australia between the Mount Lofty Ranges on the east and Gulf St Vincent on the west. The plains are generally fertile with annual rainfall of about per year....
.
It occurs in a wide variety of habitats, including riparian woodlands such as River Red Gum, Bimble Box
Eucalyptus populnea
Eucalyptus populnea, commonly known as Poplar box or Bimble box is an endemic tree of Australia. It is found in central and coastal Queensland to northern New South Wales. It can reach up to 25 meters tall and forms extensive open-forest communities in arid and sem-arid regions...
and Black Box
Eucalyptus largiflorens
Eucalyptus largiflorens, or Black Box, is a species of Eucalyptus which is endemic to Australia. It is a tree grows up to 20 metres in height...
with an understory of Lignum
Muehlenbeckia florulenta
Muehlenbeckia florulenta, commonly known as Tangled Lignum or often simply Lignum, is a plant native to inland Australia. It is associated with wetland habitats, especially those in arid and semiarid regions subject to cycles of intermittent flooding and drying out...
or Saltbush
Atriplex
Atriplex is a plant genus of 100-200 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache . The genus is quite variable and widely distributed. It includes many desert and seashore plants and halophytes, as well as plants of moist environments...
; mallee woodland, especially where mixed with thickets of Broombush
Melaleuca uncinata
Melaleuca uncinata, commonly known as Broombush or Broom Honeymyrtle, is a plant in the Paperbark family native to southern Australia...
or Emu Bush
Eremophila (plant)
Eremophila is a genus of plants of the family Scrophulariaceae, with species known by the common names of Emu Bush, Poverty Bush or Fuchsia Bush. Currently, there are 215 recognised species, all of which are endemic to Australia...
; woodlands of Native Pine
Callitris
Callitris is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae . There are 15 species in the genus, of which 13 are native to Australia and the other two native to New Caledonia. Traditionally the most widely used common name is cypress-pine, a name shared by the closely related genus Actinostrobus...
growing on sand ridges; and semi-arid scrubland dominated by Acacia
Acacia
Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...
including Lancewood. On the coast The Striped Honeyeater is found in swamp forests of Paperbark
Melaleuca
Melaleuca is a genus of plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae known for its natural soothing and cleansing properties. There are well over 200 recognised species, most of which are endemic to Australia...
and Casuarina
Casuarina
Casuarina is a genus of 17 species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australasia, southeast Asia, and islands of the western Pacific Ocean. It was once treated as the sole genus in the family, but has been split into three genera .They are evergreen shrubs and trees growing to 35 m tall...
, and in developed areas containing native and exotic trees and shrubs such as caravan parks, reserves, gardens, and farms and orchards.
Feeding
Although a honeyeater in origin, the Striped Honeyeater's food source is primarily insects, and its diet includes seeds and fruits as well as nectar. Its bill has evolved to a short, straight, sharply pointed shape more suited to probing crevices for insects, than to probing flower tubes. It has the honeyeater’s brush tongue and takes nectar from shallow flowers such as eucalyptEucalypt
Eucalypts are woody plants belonging to three closely related genera:Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora.In 1995 new evidence, largely genetic, indicated that some prominent Eucalyptus species were actually more closely related to Angophora than to the other eucalypts; they were split off into the...
blossoms.
It is arboreal, mostly feeding amongst the foliage in the canopy of trees. Most food is obtained from the leaves, and less often from the bark or flowers and fruit. The major foraging methods are glearing from leaves and dead branches, probing under loose bark and in crevices, probing woody fruits of Black Oak
Casuarina pauper
Casuarina pauper is an Australian tree species known as black oak. It is native to a band across southern Australia....
, probing flowers of Yorrell (Eucalyptus gracilis) and sallying
Hawking (birds)
Hawking is a feeding strategy in birds involving catching flying insects in the air. The term usually refers to a technique of sallying out from a perch to snatch an insect and then returning to the same or a different perch...
for insects. The Striped Honeyeater occasionally hangs upside-down to extract insects.
Social behaviour
The Striped Honeyeater has most often been observed singly or in twos, and occasionally in small flocks. When not breeding it has been recorded feeding in loose mobile groups, drinking in mixed groups with MinersManorina
Manorina is a genus of Australian endemic honeyeaters, containing four species: the Black-eared Miner, M. melanotis, the Yellow-throated Miner, M. flavigula, the Noisy Miner, M. melanocephala, and the Bell Miner, M. melanophrys...
, and travelling in small groups. It engages in a high level of social activity, including perching closely and allopreening
Personal grooming
Personal grooming is the art of cleaning, grooming, and maintaining parts of the body. It is a species-typical behavior that is controlled by neural circuits in the brain.- In humans :...
, and when feeding in groups chasing, calling and scolding. The non-breeding Striped Honeyeater is vocal, calling while feeding and perching, though only occasionally calling in flight. It has been recorded engaged in a display of wing raising and calling, and performing duets and call-and-response song.
While the Striped Honeyeater aggressively defends its nest by dive-bombing people and animals who come too close, and has been observed singing from display perches, it is not known to be territorial. It often feeds near other species of honeyeater and no inter-species aggression has been noted.
Breeding
The Striped Honeyeater breeds throughout its distribution range, usually as simple pairs, with both sexes building the nest, incubatingAvian incubation
Incubation refers to the process by which certain oviparous animals hatch their eggs, and to the development of the embryo within the egg. The most vital factor of incubation is the constant temperature required for its development over a specific period. Especially in domestic fowl, the act of...
and feeding the young. However cooperative breeding has been observed, with a third adult bird involved in feeding nestlings. It nests solitarily, and pairs use the same or adjoining trees for nesting over two or more seasons.
The breeding season is from August to January, though dependent on local conditions. The nest site is usually in the drooping foliage of a tall shrub or low tree, such as Casuarina, Melaleuca
Melaleuca
Melaleuca is a genus of plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae known for its natural soothing and cleansing properties. There are well over 200 recognised species, most of which are endemic to Australia...
, Acacia, and mallee eucalypts. The site is sometimes near to or overhanging water, and the nest is usually constructed at the end of a drooping branch, suspended from twigs or foliage. The Striped Honeyeater often nests in the vicinity of a nesting Butcherbird
Butcherbird
Butcherbirds are magpie-like birds in the genus Cracticus. They are native to Australasia. Their closest relatives are the three species of currawong...
. It builds a deep cup-shaped or bag-shaped nest
Nest
A nest is a place of refuge to hold an animal's eggs or provide a place to live or raise offspring. They are usually made of some organic material such as twigs, grass, and leaves; or may simply be a depression in the ground, or a hole in a tree, rock or building...
, with thick walls and the lip of the opening turned slightly inwards. The nest is made from thin dry grass and coated with plant down, feathers or wool, the coating often completely obscuring the grass framework. It is lined with spider webs, hair, wool or rootlets, and on occasion flowers and tissue paper. The Striped Honeyeater will commonly re-use material from previous nests.
The eggs are an elongated oval 24 centimetres (9.4 in) by 17 centimetres (6.7 in) somewhat pointed at one end. They are a dull white, smooth and lustreless or slightly lustrous, and moderately blotched with reddish-brown marks over the whole shell, though more profusely towards and over the larger end. The Striped Honeyeater lays an average of three eggs at 24 hr intervals. The eggs are incubated
Avian incubation
Incubation refers to the process by which certain oviparous animals hatch their eggs, and to the development of the embryo within the egg. The most vital factor of incubation is the constant temperature required for its development over a specific period. Especially in domestic fowl, the act of...
by both parents who sit constantly in alternating periods of around twenty minutes for sixteen or seventeen days. The fledging
Fledge
Fledge is the stage in a young bird's life when the feathers and wing muscles are sufficiently developed for flight. It also describes the act of a chick's parents raising it to a fully grown state...
period is also around sixteen days.
The nests of the Striped Honeyeater are parasitized by the Pallid Cuckoo
Pallid Cuckoo
The Pallid Cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family.It is found in Australia, Christmas Island, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea....
(Cacomantis pallidus).
Conservation status
Because of its wide distribution and stable numbers, the population status of the Striped Honeyeater has been evaluated as being of Least ConcernLeast Concern
Least Concern is an IUCN category assigned to extant taxon or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, Near Threatened, or Conservation Dependent...
.