The Scarlet Honeyeater

australian native birds, charming, colourful, insect eating, nectar eatng, quick, tiny -

The Scarlet Honeyeater

 

The highlight of my photography year in 2019 was definitely spotting and capturing the Scarlet Honeyeater's in action everyday for about 4 months feeding from the various native flora that we planted many years ago on our 2 acre property.

Scarlet Honeyeater is only about 10cm in size they are very very quick making them extremely difficult to see and capture on camera. I witnessed the hard working female who went about building her nest, lovingly looking after and feeding her chicks sometimes 2 or 3 at a time which was an all day effort due to being chased away continually by larger birds. I instantly felt sorry for her as she wasn't hurting any other birds. Her nest is only about 10cm in size and consists of a delicate cup of bark shreds and spiderwebs

The Male who is absolutely stunning with his bright red chest, black feathers highlighting his graceful wings. He flies to the very top of dead trees where he can be seen by all the females and he sings sweet music to them. It only takes a matter of seconds for him to attract 3 or more females altogether but he will select one and off they both fly together. This is repeated mind you throughout the day.

They were truly a delight to watch and I am hoping they will be back again this year


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