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Although birds are usually quite easy to see, often they are more difficult to identify. You may have had the briefest glimpse or heard a snatch of its song, or perhaps it was a bird you have never seen before. The best place to look for it is here.

You will discover the remarkable variety of birds that occur across Australia. With stunning images of featured species and some recordings of their songs and calls, you are sure to find that mystery bird, or learn more about species you already know.

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Atlas & Birdata

The Atlas is one of BirdLife Australia's greatest resources, allowing us to track changes in birds across the country. Since 1998 a dedicated band of... More >

Beach-nesting Birds

BirdLife Australia’s Beach-nesting Birds project works with community volunteers across Australia to help raise awareness among beach users about... More >

Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo Recovery

BirdLife Australia has been running the Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo Recovery project since 2001. We work with various land managers, government and... More >

Shorebirds 2020

The Shorebirds 2020 program aims to reinvigorate and coordinate national shorebird population monitoring in Australia. To report on the population... More >

Woodland Birds for Biodiversity

Since European settlement one-third of Australia’s woodlands and 80% of temperate woodlands have been cleared. The Woodland Birds for Biodiversity... More >

@BirdlifeOz

Congrats to @BirdlifeOz member Patricia Ferguson for winning a Logan Eco Award for her countless hours working for birds & the environment!

The UK's first crane egg in four centuries has been laid! Congrats @WWTworldwide! http://t.co/3RhrEyjJfy

Is nowhere safe from shooting, grazing & logging? National Parks don't seem to be. We call for Fed protection now: http://t.co/CSUzaOTulb

Regent Honeyeater

Anthochaera phrygia
Meliphagidae

Although it is one of Australia’s most handsome honeyeaters, the Regent Honeyeater, named for its striking yellow-and-black plumage, once rejoiced in the name ‘Warty-faced Honeyeater’. Regent Honeyeaters were once regular visitors as far north as Rockhampton, west to the Riverina region of New South Wales, and south to the suburbs of Melbourne, but no more. Widespread clearance of their woodland habitat has seen their numbers decline and their range contract, and has encouraged more aggressive species of honeyeaters, such as Noisy Miners and Red Wattlebirds, to proliferate.

Identification

Description

The striking Regent Honeyeater has a black head, neck and upper breast, a lemon yellow back and breast scaled black, with the underparts grading into a white rump, black wings with conspicuous yellow patches, and a black tail edged yellow. In males, the dark eye is surrounded by yellowish warty bare skin. Females are smaller, with a bare yellowish patch under the eye only, and have less black on the throat. Young birds resemble females, but are browner and have a paler bill. This species is gregarious, moving in flocks. It bobs its head when calling.

Similar Species

The Regent Honeyeater might be confused with the smaller (16 cm - 18 cm) black and white White-fronted Honeyeater, Phylidonyris albifrons, but should be readily distinguished by its warty, yellowish eye skin, its strongly scalloped, rather than streaked, patterning, especially on the back, and its yellow-edged, black tail.

Location

Distribution

Formerly more widely distributed in south-eastern mainland Australia from Rockhampton, Queensland to Adelaide, South Australia, the Regent Honeyeater is now confined to Victoria and New South Wales, and is strongly associated with the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range.

Habitat

The Regent Honeyeater is found in eucalypt forests and woodlands, particularly in blossoming trees and mistletoe. It is also seen in orchards and urban gardens.

Behaviour

Feeding

The Regent Honeyeater feeds mainly on nectar and other plant sugars. It can also feed on insects and spiders, as well as native and cultivated fruits. It forages in flowers or foliage, but sometimes comes down to the ground to bathe in puddles or pools, and may also hawk for insects on the wing.

Breeding

The Regent Honeyeater breeds in individual pairs or, sometimes, in loose colonies, with the female incubating the eggs and both sexes feeding the young. The cup-shaped nest is thickly constructed from bark, lined with soft material, and is placed in a tree fork 1 m to 20 m from the ground.

Conservation Status

Federal

Endangered

NSW

Endangered

NT

Not present

QLD

Endangered

SA

Endangered

TAS

Not present

VIC

Critically endangered

WA

Endangered