The male Pied Honeyeater is a distinctive small, black and white honeyeater with white wing-bar, rump and tail-panels, and a bluish-grey wattle below the eye. The female is greyish-brown, with a strong pattern of pale edging to feathers on the wing.

Distribution

Widespread throughout acacia, mallee and spinifex scrubs of arid and semi-arid Australia. Occasionally occurs further east, on the slopes and plains and the Hunter Valley, typically during periods of drought.

Habitat and ecology

  • Inhabits wattle shrub, primarily Mulga (Acacia aneura), mallee, spinifex and eucalypt woodlands, usually when shrubs are flowering; feeds on nectar, predominantly from various species of emu-bushes (Eremophila spp.); also from mistletoes and various other shrubs (e.g. Grevillea spp.); also eats saltbush fruit, berries, seed, flowers and insects.
  • Highly nomadic, following the erratic flowering of shrubs; can be locally common at times.
  • Constructs a relatively large cup-shaped nest, usually robust, although occasionally loose, constructed of grasses and fine twigs, bound with spider webs, in the fork of a shrub or tree up to 5 m above the ground.
We acknowledge and thank the NSW Office of Environment & Heritage for the provision of threatened species information in this website.
Image by Knight, R – https://www.flickr.com/photos/sussexbirder/8079667005/sizes/m/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36282751
For more information:
NSW Office of Environment & Heritage