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Tawny-crowned Honeyeater

Did you know?

One pair of Tawny-crowned Honeayeaters continued to feed their nestlings despite being surrounded by shellfire at an artillery range.

Calls
A liquid, fluty, mournful call.
Facts and Figures
Research Species: 
No
Minimum Size: 
14cm
Maximum Size: 
18cm
Average size: 
16cm
Average weight: 
18g
Breeding season: 
mostly July to December, but sometimes as late as April if a second clutch is successful
Clutch Size: 
Two, rarely three.
Incubation: 
15 days
Nestling Period: 
12 days
Conservation Status
Federal: 
Secure
NSW: 
Secure
NT: 
Not present
QLD: 
Not present
SA: 
Secure
TAS: 
Secure
VIC: 
Secure
WA: 
Secure
Basic Information
Scientific Name: 
Glyciphila melanops
Featured bird groups: 
Honeyeaters
Atlas Number: 
593
What does it look like?
Description: 

The Tawny-crowned Honeyeater is pale brown above fading to white below, with a whitish throat and bib. Its tawny crown is separated from a black face by a white line from beak, over the eye and curving down behind the ear. The black facial feathers curve down to a black "wishbone" either side of bib. It has a slender curved black bill. The juvenile's crown is browner with white streaks, with no white line, the face is brown and "wishbone" pattern is less pronounced and streaky. Its throat is yellow.

Similar species: 

Although similar to the Eastern and Western Spinebills, and the Crescent Honeyeater, its tawny-crown is quite distinctive.

Where does it live?
Distribution: 

Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters are mainly coastal birds from just south of the NSW-Qld border to the western edge of the Eyre Peninsula in SA, extending inland across much of Vic and south-eastern SA. They are coastal around Tasmania and occupy south-western WA.

Habitat: 

These birds mostly live in coastal heathlands in the temperate zones in southern Australia, but can extend into the sand plains with suitable vegetation.

Seasonal movements: 

The Tawny-crowned Honeyeater is mostly sedentary.

What does it do?
Feeding: 

The main food sources for Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters are nectar and insects.

Breeding: 

The birds construct a deep cup of bark, grass, rootlets, leaves and spider web in a dense live shrub, or occasionally tussock grass. The female incubates but both feed the young birds.

Living with us

Habitat clearance has led to the decline of the range and abundance of this species.

References: 
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia.
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds, Volume 6: Pardalotes to Shrike-thrushes.
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