Drouin's honeyeaters

In avian terms, Australia is often referred to as the land of parrots. In fact there are far more species of honeyeaters that inhabit our great country than there are parrots. A quick scan of any current Australian bird field guide will produce entries for over 60 species of honeyeaters while the parrots list is less than 30.

Early settlers to the Great Southern Land were astounded at the number and size of the nectar-eating birds. The Tasmanian Yellow Wattlebird was hunted for food to the extent that in 1903, a closed season was instigated for fear of eradication. Like all native fauna, they are now fully protected.

Most other continents barely have three or four honeyeaters – Africa has a few Sugarbirds and Sunbirds. In Europe several tits and bee-eaters are known to sometimes take nectar. The tiny, fascinating hummingbird family is South America’s main avian consumer of nectar (Attenborough’s brilliant hummingbird video 50min – check out the sword-billed Hummingbird!).

Over millennia, our native trees and shrubs have evolved to cope with soils depleted of nutrient. It is postulated that our eucalypts, banksias, wattles, grevilleas, bottle brushes, paperbarks, hakeas, etc. tend to produce excess sugars through photosynthesis to make up for the lack of nutrient available through their root systems. Their flowers are often dripping with nectar – honeyeater heaven!

Honeyeaters have brush-tipped tongues that extend beyond their beaks (often long and curved) to facilitate the lapping of nectar from the gland at the base of the flower. In doing so, they inadvertently collect pollen on their chins, foreheads, etc. from the flower’s anthers. The pollen is transferred to the stigma of the next flower on their calling list – pollination! Honeyeaters have become the principal pollen vector for many of our native plants.

Enough. Here’s fourteen of Drouin’s (and district) honeyeaters that you may encounter:

 Wattlebirds

Little Wattlebird                                 Red Wattlebird

These two honeyeaters seem to be present in our district in just about equal numbers but they are highly nomadic as they chase blooming trees and shrubs. The Little Wattlebird is without the cheek wattles and the yellow belly. It’s a bit smaller than the Red Wattlebird and has rufous underwings that are very obvious in flight.

Lorikeets

Rainbow Lorikeet                       Musk Lorikeet

The Rainbow Lorikeet is the main lorri we have in Drouin, but every now and again there will be some Musk Lorikeets among the flocks of rainbows. Rainbow Lorikeets are like, well, rainbows. Musks are pretty much all green with a red forehead and patch behind the eye and are a little smaller.

Eastern Spinebill and New Holland Honeyeater

Eastern Spinebill                    New Holland Honeyeater

These two are pretty common in our district. The spinebill has the long, curved bill that is perfectly adapted for seeking nectar particularly from tubular flowers like correas. The new holland has a single, high-pitched alarm call and spends a lot of its time chasing other honeyeaters from its territory.

Lewin’s Honeyeater and Brown-headed Honeyeater

Lewins Honeyeater                Brown-headed Honeyeater

These two are generally not so easy to spot. The lewins usually stays well-hidden in deep wet gullies. You know its present when you hear a machinegun-like call. The brown-headed is just not that plentiful in this district it seems. It tends to prefer more open woodlands.

White-eared Honeyeater and Yellow-faced Honeyeater

White-eared Honeyeater          Yellow-faced Honeyeater

A loud ‘chock-up, chock-up’ is the distinctive call of the white-eared. In our district, this bird can be found from the alps to the coast. The yellow-faced tends to stick to open eucalypt woodlands. In autumn, many of them head north for winter.

White-naped Honeyeater and White-plumed Honeyeater

White-naped Honeyeater          White-plumed Honeyeater

White-napes usually feed high in the eucalypt canopy. They are a ‘smart-looking’ bird in their black, olive green and white plumage. White-plumes have adapted well to tall eucalypt reserves in urban situations. They are sedentary but nomadic at times.

Noisy Miner and Bell Miner

Noisy Miner                             Bell Miner

We don’t have much difficulty seeing these two in our district. Both are very aggressive to other birds – not just other honeyeaters. Noisy Miners tend to be ‘fringe-dwellers’ – they inhabit the edge of bush and woodland, seldom venturing into the denser places. Bell Miners live in colonies wherever there is an infestation of lerp. We could probably do with fewer of these two in our town!

 Our honeyeaters need our trees and our trees need our honeyeaters