Large Honeyeater Family
There is 190 species of Honeyeaters,roughly half of them are Native to Australia. Many Australian Native trees and plants are fertislised by the honeyeaters, plants such as Proteaceaer and the Ericaceae and Myrtaceae
Unfortunately I haven't photographed all of them at this stage but hopefully will get many of them in our future road trips.
The Striped honeyeater just below was a delight when I spotted him in one of our native trees recently being only 21-23 cm in size but it did keep itself very well hidden in the thick growth.
Another one I spotted for the first time last August was the stunning Scarlet Honeyeater also known as the Scarlet myzomela which is the smallest Honeyeater in Australia being 9-11cm in size. The mature male is a vibrant red head, and chest with stunning black and red back plumage. The male sits right at the top of an open or dead tree where he can be easily seen by any nearby females. From my observations from watching them full time for 5 months it was the female who built their nest and cared for the chicks once hatched. The image below is a juvenile male.
The photo below is a mature male Scarlet Honeyeater
The Eastern Spinebill is a species of the Honeyeater and its size is 15-16.6cm.
It will hover at a flower while getting to the nectar
A common feature which makes the honeyeaters easy to recognise is their long curved pointy beak allowing them to get right into the flower for nectar and insects
Another very interesting bird is the Wattle Bird and it is a genus of birds in the Honeyeater family.
The Little Wattle Bird is the one that we see more of in Southern Queensland and we are blessed to have a lovely family of them living and breeding in the trees on our property. It is lovely listening to them singing away in the trees each day. They are 26-31cm in size Below is a photo of the Little Wattlebird
I just love these birds as they are such good parents to their chicks.
Photo below is the Red Wattle Bird.
We spotted this one on our road trip to Dubbo in September 2019 at Armidale where we stayed on our first night. He was very high up in the tree, but I just love his little pink legs and claws. So cute
Another little cutie in the Honeyeater family that we also have living and breeding on our property is the Lewin’s Honeyeater (photo below). They are 19-21.5 cm in size, just a lovely quiet little bird
And to end this post I will include some more images of the
These keep me entertained everyday at our property with their skillful flying, and antics, oh and of course their facial gestures but I love the devotion the adults show to their young chicks. The adults have lovely blue around their eyes
Photo below juvenile Blue Faced Honeyeater saying his prayers
I am really enjoying using very early morning sunlight on my photos to highlight some of the features of the adorable honeyeater
The Honeyeater species really does have some amazing birds, many being native to Australia
Dedicated to all the Australian Fauna and Flora lost in the 2019/2020 bushfires