The yellow-throated honeyeater (''Nesoptilotis flavicollis'') is a species of

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 in the honeyeater family

Meliphagidae The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, miners and melidectes. They are most common in Australia and New Gu ...

. It is similar in behaviour and appearance to the

white-eared honeyeater The white-eared honeyeater (''Nesoptilotis leucotis'') is a medium-sized honeyeater found in Australia. It is a member of the family Meliphagidae (honeyeaters and Australian chats) which has 190 recognised species with about half of them found i ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

Australia's Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by a ...

island state of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. It was formerly considered a pest of orchards.

Taxonomy

The species was originally described by French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1817, who placed it in the genus ''

Melithreptus ''Melithreptus'' is a genus of bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. Its members are native to Australia. It is generally considered to contain seven species, although some authors have classified the related blue-faced honeyeater within th ...

''. Its specific epithet is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

words ''flavus'' 'yellow', and ''collis'' 'neck'. Other vernacular names are the green cherry-picker, green dick or green linnet. The yellow-throated honeyeater was previously placed in the genus ''

Lichenostomus ''Lichenostomus'' is a genus of honeyeaters endemic to Australia. The genus formerly contained twenty species but it was split after a molecular phylogenetic analysis published in 2011 showed that the genus was polyphyletic. Former members were ...

'', but was moved to ''

Nesoptilotis ''Nesoptilotis'' is a genus of honeyeaters endemic to Australia and Tasmania. The genus consists of two former members of ''Lichenostomus'', and was created after a molecular phylogenetic analysis published in 2011 showed that the original gen ...

'' after a

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

analysis, published in 2011, showed that the original genus was

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of conver ...

. It is a sister taxon to the

(''N. leucotis''), which occurs on mainland Australia but not in Tasmania, and they belong to a clade that contains the genera '' Entomyzon'', ''

'' and '' Foulehaio''.

Description

The yellow-throated honeyeater is a medium-sized honeyeater with a relatively long tail. Typical weight is and the average length is . The

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

is bright olive-green above, with a silver-grey crown, face, and underbelly, contrasting with a distinctive bright yellow chin and throat. There is a small yellow ear-patch and the wing feathers are outlined with yellow. The bill is black and the eye is a deep ruby red. Females are smaller than males. Juvenile birds are very similar to adults, but duller.

Distribution and habitat

The yellow-throated honeyeater is common and widespread on the mainland of Tasmania, King Island and the

Furneaux Group The Furneaux Group is a group of approximately 100 islands located at the eastern end of Bass Strait, between Victoria and Tasmania, Australia. The islands were named after British navigator Tobias Furneaux, who sighted the eastern side of ...

. It is not considered

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 depe ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is temperate

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

s, and coastal scrub and heath. Both wet and dry

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 are the preferred habitats, with other habitats like alpine eucalypt woodland and open eucalypt woodland, cool rainforest, coastal heathlands, and shrublands also being used. They may also be found in golf courses, orchards, parks and gardens. Older stands of dry

may be adversely affected by fire.

Behaviour

The yellow-throated honeyeater is territorial and quite aggressive towards other honeyeaters,

pardalote Pardalotes or peep-wrens are a family, Pardalotidae, of very small, brightly coloured birds native to Australia, with short tails, strong legs, and stubby blunt beaks. This family is composed of four species in one genus, ''Pardalotus'', and sev ...

golden whistler The Australian golden whistler (''Pachycephala pectoralis'') or golden whistler, is a species of bird found in forest, woodland, mallee, mangrove and scrub in Australia (except the interior and most of the north)Ken Simpson, K., & N. Day. (1994) ...

s, and

grey shrike-thrush The grey shrikethrush or grey shrike-thrush (''Colluricincla harmonica''), formerly commonly known as grey thrush, is a songbird of Australasia. It is moderately common to common in most parts of Australia, but absent from the driest of the inla ...

es, and will chase them away from their territories.

Feeding

The yellow-throated honeyeater feeds mainly on

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chiti ...

s, also taking some nectar, and occasionally fruit or seeds. The species forages from the canopy down to the ground, usually singly or in pairs. Food is obtained by gleaning from trunks, branches, and the ground, by probing between loose bark on the trunks, and by occasional sallying flights. More rarely flowers are investigated for insects or nectar.

Breeding

Lichenostomus flavicollis stealing hair from Thylogale billardierii for nest - Melaleuca

Breeding occurs from August to January. During breeding season females move into male territories. The nest is often within 1 m of the ground in a low bush or tussock, but may occasionally be found at up to in foliage. It is constructed by the female from grass, bark-shreds, leaves and spiders' web and lined with treefern fibres, wool, and fur. This species is known for collecting hair for the nest from live animals, such as horses, dogs, and humans.Birds in Backyards – Yellow-throated Honeyeater
/ref> The female incubates the eggs and feeds the young. A typical clutch is two or three pinkish eggs,Parks & Wildlife Service – Yellow-Throated Honeyeater
/ref> and the incubation period is approximately 16 days. The female alone incubates the eggs, and also feeds the nestlings. Hatchlings also spend around 16 days in the nest. The male will drive off the fledglings and the female when they are old enough to disperse (usually at around three weeks). This species is parasitised 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 recogn ...

and the

pallid cuckoo The pallid cuckoo (''Cacomantis pallidus'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in Australia, with some migration to the islands of Timor and Papua New Guinea. It is between 28 and 33 ...

Calls

The yellow-throated honeyeater makes a variety of

calls Call or Calls may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Call, a type of betting in poker * Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage Music and dance * Call (band), from Lahore, Pak ...

. These include a breeding call, used for attracting mates, and to advertise ownership of a territory. That call varies geographically, but essentially consists of a whirring ''chur-uk, chur-uk'' or a loud ''de-wit'', and is used during breeding season.CSIRO Publishing – Spatial and Individual Variation in the Songs of the Yellow-throated Honeyeater Lichenostomus flavicollis Abstract
/ref> Another common call is a repeated ''tonk, tonk, tonk'' or ''tchook, tchook''.

References

External links

Photos, audio and video of yellow-throated 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
Recording of yellow-throated honeyeater
from Graeme Chapman's sound library {{Taxonbar, from=Q1314908 yellow-throated honeyeater Endemic birds of Tasmania yellow-throated honeyeater Taxa named by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot Articles containing video clips Taxonomy articles created by Polbot