The yellow-tufted honeyeater (''Lichenostomus melanops'') is a

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...

bird found in the south-east ranges of Australia. A predominantly black and yellow honeyeater, it is split into four subspecies.

Taxonomy

The yellow-tufted honeyeater was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801, and given two different binomial names: ''Muscicapa auricomis'' and ''Turdus melanops''. The latter name was retained as a ''

nomen protectum In zoological nomenclature, a ''nomen oblitum'' (plural: ''nomina oblita''; Latin for "forgotten name") is a disused scientific name which has been declared to be obsolete (figuratively 'forgotten') in favour of another 'protected' name. In its p ...

'', and the former a '' nomen oblitum'', as the epithet ''melanops'' has been used consistently for over a century. It belongs to the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. More recently, DNA analysis has shown honeyeaters to be related to the Pardalotidae, and the

Petroicidae The bird family Petroicidae includes 51 species in 19 genera. All are endemic to Australasia: New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and numerous Pacific Islands as far east as Samoa. For want of an accurate common name, the family is often called th ...

(Australasian robins) in a large

corvid Corvidae is a cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies, treepies, choughs, and nutcrackers. In colloquial English, they are known as the crow family or corvids. Currently, ...

superfamily; some researchers include all these families in a broadly defined

Corvidae Corvidae is a cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies, treepies, choughs, and nutcrackers. In colloquial English, they are known as the crow family or corvids. Cu ...

. The generic name ''Lichenostomus'' is derived from the Ancient Greek ''leikhēn'' 'lichen, callous' and ''stoma'' 'mouth'; the specific epithet ''melanops'' derives from Ancient Greek ''melas'' 'black' and ''opsis'' 'face'.

Subspecies

Four races are recognised: * ''L. m. cassidix'',

helmeted honeyeater The helmeted honeyeater (''Lichenostomus melanops cassidix'') is a passerine bird in the honeyeater family. It is a distinctive and critically endangered subspecies of the yellow-tufted honeyeater, that exists in the wild only as a tiny relict ...

, is restricted to a 5 km length of remnant bushland along two streams in the Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve, 50 km east of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, in Victoria. It is the brightest and largest subspecies, weighing . In 2003, there were 103 individuals in the wild with 20 breeding pairs known, as well as a further 34 birds in captivity at the

Healesville Sanctuary Healesville Sanctuary, formally known as the Sir Colin MacKenzie Sanctuary, is a zoo specialising in native Australian animals. It is located at Healesville in rural Victoria, Australia, and has a history of breeding native animals. It is one ...

. * ''L. m. gippslandicus'', Gippsland yellow-tufted honeyeater * ''L. m. melanops'', Sydney yellow-tufted honeyeater * ''L. m. meltoni'', inland yellow-tufted honeyeater, is smaller and duller in plumage with a smaller tuft, which was described by G. M. Mathews in 1912.

Description

The yellow-tufted honeyeater is long, with females usually smaller. It has a bright yellow forehead, crown and throat, a glossy black mask and bright golden ear-tufts. The back is olive-green to olive-brown on wings and tail, and the underparts are more olive-yellow. The bill and gape are black, eyes brown, and legs grey-brown.

Distribution and habitat

The yellow-tufted honeyeater occurs from south-east

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

through eastern

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and across

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. Simpson, Ken, Day, N. and Trusler, P. (6th edn., 1999). ''Field Guide to the Birds of Australia''. Ringwood, Victoria: Penguin Books Australia . Its preferred habitats are dry open

sclerophyll Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or oblique to direct ...

forests and woodlands dominated by eucalypts with shrubby undergrowth, as well as mallee,

brigalow ''Acacia harpophylla'', commonly known as brigalow, brigalow spearwood or orkor, is an endemic tree of Australia. The Aboriginal Australian group the Gamilaraay peoples know the tree as Barranbaa or Burrii. It is found in central and coast ...

and cypress-pine ('' Callitris'').Higgins, P., L. Christidis, and H. Ford (2020). "Yellow-tufted Honeyeater (Lichenostomus melanops), version 1.0." In ''Birds of the World'' (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.yethon3.01 The helmeted honeyeater subspecies is largely restricted to dense vegetation along riverbanks, dominated by the mountain swamp gum (''

Eucalyptus camphora ''Eucalyptus camphora'', commonly known as swamp gum is a flowering plant that is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a species of small to medium-sized tree with smooth bark, sometimes rough at the base, broadly lance-shaped to egg-shaped ...

'') with a dense understorey of woolly tea-tree (''

Leptospermum lanigerum ''Leptospermum lanigerum'', commonly known as the woolly teatree, is a small tree or medium shrub from the plant family '' Myrtaceae''. Its common name derives from the conspicuously hairy capsules produced as fruit, along with the fine, silky ha ...

''), scented paperbark (''

Melaleuca squarrosa ''Melaleuca squarrosa'', commonly known as scented paperbark, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to south eastern parts of Australia, especially Tasmania. It is an attractive shrub with dense foliage and arching branches an ...

''), saw-sedge ('' Gahnia''), ferns and tussock grasses.

Behaviour

Yellow-tufted honeyeaters are a noisy, active species in colonies from a few up to a hundred. It aggressively defends territories around flowering trees. It has a great variety of calls from a warbled "tui-t-tui-t-tui", a whistled "wheit-wheit", a sharp "querk" to a harsh contact-call "yip" or "chop-chop".Slater, Peter (1974) ''A Field Guide to Australian Birds: Passerines''. Adelaide: Rigby.

Diet and Foraging

The diet of the yellow-tufted honeyeater is primarily arthropods, such as a variety of insects and spiders, and occasionally

snails A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastro ...

. It also feeds on lerps and honeydew, nectar and sap flows from eucalypts, occasionally fruit and flowers. It takes insects in flight and by probing the bark of tree-trunks and limbs.

Breeding

Breeding takes place between July and March (mostly from September to January), with one or two broods each season.Morcombe, Michael (2012) ''Field Guide to Australian Birds''. Pascal Press, Glebe, NSW. Revised edition. The

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materi ...

is a cup-shaped structure of dried grasses, bits of bark and other plant material, bound with spider webs and lined with fur and feathers, hung by its rim in dense shrubbery or regrowth. Two or three

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

, each measuring , are laid, pinkish in colour, blotched with pale reddish- or buff-brown. The eggs are incubated mostly by the female for 14-16 days. The nestlings are brooded by the female and fed by both sexes and any helpers, fledging at 13-15 days post-hatch and usually becoming independent by 6 weeks. The nests are parasitized by the

fan-tailed cuckoo The fan-tailed cuckoo (''Cacomantis flabelliformis'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in Australia, Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. Taxonomy Six subspecies have been reco ...

(''Cacomantis flabelliformis''), pallid cuckoo (''Cacomantis pallidus'') and

shining bronze-cuckoo The shining bronze cuckoo (''Chrysococcyx lucidus'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae, found in Australia, Indonesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. It was previously also known as ''Ch ...

(''Chrysococcyx lucidus'').

Conservation

Yellow-tufted honeyeaters, as a species, are not listed as threatened on the Australian

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cult ...

or on any state-based legislation. However, at the subspecies level, the helmeted honeyeater (''L. m. cassidix'') is considered to be threatened: * This subspecies is listed as

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

on the Australian

. * This subspecies is listed as

threatened Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensa ...

on the Victorian

Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act (1988) The ''Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988'', also known as the ''FFG Act'', is an act of the Victorian Government designed to protect species, genetic material and habitats, to prevent extinction and allow maximum genetic diversity within the Au ...

. Under this Act, an ''Action Statement'' for the recovery and future management of this species has been prepared.Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria
/ref> * On the 2007 advisory list of threatened vertebrate fauna in Victoria, the helmeted honeyeater is listed as critically endangered.

References

External links

BirdLife Species FactsheetPhotos, audio and video of yellow-tufted honeyeater
from

Cornell Lab of Ornithology The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a member-supported unit of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, which studies birds and other wildlife. It is housed in the Imogene Powers Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity in Sapsucker Woods Sanctuar ...

's Macaulay Library
Recordings of yellow-tufted honeyeater
from Graeme Chapman's sound library {{Taxonbar, from=Q3179459 yellow-tufted honeyeater Birds of Queensland Birds of New South Wales Birds of Victoria (Australia) Endemic birds of Australia yellow-tufted honeyeater Articles containing video clips