Striped Honeyeater.
Photo: K Vang and W Dabrowka © Bird Explorers
Striped Honeyeater.
Photo: K Vang and W Dabrowka © Bird Explorers
Striped Honeyeater, drinking.
Photo: K Vang and W Dabrowka © Bird Explorers
Distribution map of Plectorhyncha lanceolata
Map © Birds Australia Birdata
Striped Honeyeater
Scientific name: Plectorhyncha lanceolata
Family: Meliphagidae
Order: Passeriformes
What does it look like?
Description
The medium-sized Striped Honeyeater is grey-brown above, with a grey-white head and upper neck boldly striped black, and has whitish underparts with faint streaks on the belly and undertail. The feathers of the upper breast and throat are long and pointed, giving the head a shaggy appearance. Females are browner on the back than males, with more greyish underparts, while young birds are duller and less streaked overall. The bill and legs are blue-grey and the eye is dark.
Similar species
The Striped Honeyeater is much smaller than the similarly shaped wattlebirds and has much whiter, less streaked underparts.
Where does it live?
Distribution
The Striped Honeyeater is found in eastern Australia, mainly inland, from the Yorke Peninsula, South Australia to the coast of New South Wales, around Toukley, and north to Charters Towers, Queensland.
Habitat
The Striped Honeyeater is found in forests and woodlands, often along rivers, as well as mangroves and in urban gardens.
Seasonal movements
Sedentary; may be nomadic in drier areas.
What does it do?
Feeding
The Striped Honeyeater feeds mainly on insects and spiders, but will also eat nectar and other plant sugars, along with seeds, berries and fruit. It is mainly arboreal, feeding in pairs or small flocks in dense foliage, at the lower levels of the canopy.
Breeding
The Striped Honeyeater defends a breeding territory, becoming quite vigorous and aggressive during the breeding season (it is normally much less conspicuous than many other honeyeaters). Both sexes care for the young and communal breeding has been recorded for this species. The nest is a suspended cup made from grass and fibres, including emu feathers, which is lined with grass and placed at about 1 m - 6 m from the ground.