Crescent Honeyeater
Encyclopedia
The Crescent Honeyeater (Phylidonyris pyrrhopterus) is a passerine
bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to south-eastern Australia including Tasmania
. A member of the genus Phylidonyris
, it is most closely related to the common New Holland Honeyeater
(P. novaehollandiae) and the White-cheeked Honeyeater
(P. niger). Two subspecies are recognised, with P. p. halmaturinus restricted in range to Kangaroo Island
and the Mount Lofty Ranges
in South Australia
.
It is a fairly nondescript bird of dark grey plumage and paler underparts, highlighted by yellow wing patches and a broad, black crescent, outlined in white, down the sides of its breast. The species exhibits slight sexual dimorphism
, with the female being duller in colour than the male. Juvenile birds are similar to the female, though the yellow wing patches of male nestlings can be easily distinguished.
The male has a complex and variable song, which is heard throughout the year. It sings from an exposed perch, and during the breeding season performs song flights. The Crescent Honeyeater is found in areas of dense vegetation including sclerophyll
forest and alpine
habitats, as well as heathland
, and parks and gardens, where its diet is made up of nectar and invertebrate
s. It forms long-term pairs, and often stays committed to one breeding site for several years. The female builds the nest and does most of the caring for the two to three young, which become independent within 40 days of egg-laying.
The parent birds use a range of anti-predator strategies, but nestlings can be taken by snakes, kookaburra
s, currawong
s or cats. While the Crescent Honeyeater faces a number of threats, its population numbers and distribution are sufficient for it to be listed as of Least Concern
for conservation.
in 1801 as Certhia pyrrhoptera, because of an assumed relationship with the treecreeper
s, Certhiidae. It was later named Certhia australasiana by George Shaw
in 1812, Melithreptus melanoleucus by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot
in 1817, and Meliphaga inornata by John Gould
in 1838. The generic term comes from the French phylidonyre, which combines the names for a honeyeater and a sunbird
(previously thought to belong to the same family). The specific epithet is derived from the Ancient Greek
stem
s pyrrhos, meaning "fire", and pteron, meaning "wing", in reference to the yellow wing patches. Some guidebooks have the binomial
name written as Phylidonyris pyrrhoptera; however, a review in 2001 ruled that the genus name was masculine, hence pyrrhopterus is the correct specific name. Two subspecies are recognised, the nominate form P. p. pyrrhopterus over most of its range, and P. p. halmaturinus which is restricted to Kangaroo Island
and the Mount Lofty Ranges
.
A recent molecular study showed its close relatives to be the New Holland Honeyeater
and the White-cheeked Honeyeater
, the three forming the now small genus Phylidonyris. DNA
analysis has shown honeyeaters to be related to the Pardalotidae (pardalotes), Acanthizidae
(Australian warblers, scrubwrens, thornbills, etc.), and Maluridae
(Australian fairy-wrens) in a large Meliphagoidea
superfamily.
Other common names for the Crescent Honeyeater include Chinawing, Egypt and Horseshoe Honeyeater. Gould called it the Tasmanian Honeyeater.
, with the female a paler version of the male. The male is dark grey with clear yellow wing-patches with a broad, black crescent, outlined in white, down the sides of its breast, and a white streak above his eye. The top of the tail is black, with yellow edges to the feathers forming distinctive yellow panels on the sides of the tail. White tips on the undertail are usually only visible in flight. The underparts are pale brownish-grey fading to white. The female is duller, olive brown with faded yellow wing patches with similar, though less clear, crescentic markings. Both sexes have dark grey legs and feet, deep ruby eyes and a long, downcurved black bill. The gape
is also black. Young birds are similar to the adults, though not as strongly marked, and have dark grey bills, duller brown eyes and yellow gapes. Male nestlings can be distinguished by their more extensive yellow wing patches from 7 days old. Moulting patterns of the species are poorly known; Crescent Honeyeaters appear to replace their primary flight feathers between October and January.
While both subspecies have the same general appearance, the female of halmaturinus has paler plumage than the nominate race, and both male and female have a smaller wing and tail and longer bill. The halmaturinus population on Kangaroo Island has a significantly shorter wing and longer bill than the Mount Lofty population, although this size variation of an insular
form is at odds with Allen's
and Bergmann's
rules.
, a number of harsh monosyllabic
or tri-syllabic
contact calls
, and complex and diverse songs. The most common contact call is a loud, carrying "e-gypt", while the alarm call is a sharp and rapid "chip-chip-chip". The male also has a melodic song which is heard throughout the year, at any time of the day. The structure of the song is complex and diverse, and includes both a descending whistle and a musical two-note call. The male's song is performed from an exposed perch or within the tree canopy, and it engages in song flights during the breeding season. When the female is on the nest and the male nearby, they utter low soft notes identified as "whisper song".
, the Mid North Coast, and in the Hunter Valley
of New South Wales
, and it is widespread in the areas of New South Wales south of Dharug National Park
and east of Bathurst
. In Victoria
it is widespread across an area from the NSW border south west to Wallan
with scattered populations recorded further west. It is widespread in Tasmania, except in the north-east part of the state where it is more sparsely distributed. It is restricted to sclerophyll forest in eastern South Australia, where isolated populations have been recorded in the Mount Lofty Ranges
and on Kangaroo Island
. Local influxes have occurred outside its normal range in response to changes in habitat. Recorded population densities range from 0.3 birds per hectare (0.1 per acre) near Orbost
, to 8.7 pairs per hectare (3.4 per acre) in Boola Boola State Forest, also in Victoria.
While the Crescent Honeyeater occupies a wide variety of habitats including coastal heath
, rainforest
, wet sclerophyll
forest, mountain forest, alpine
woodland
, damp gullies and thick tea-tree
scrub, they all demonstrate its preference for dense vegetation. It has been frequently recorded in wet sclerophyll forest dominated by eucalypt
s and with a thick mid-story and understory
of shrubs such as blackwood, silver wattle
, Cassinia
, Prostanthera
, and Correa. At higher altitudes it occurs in alpine heathlands and in woodlands of stunted eucalypt or conifers.
The movements of the Crescent Honeyeater within its range are incompletely known. There is widespread evidence of seasonal migration to lower altitudes in cooler months, yet a proportion of the population remains sedentary. Autumn and winter migration to the lowland coastal areas is seen in southern Tasmania, where it is not unusual to see it in urban parks and gardens, as well as Gippsland
, and the New South Wales Central and South Coast. In the Sydney region, some birds appear to move down from the Blue Mountains to Sydney for the cooler months, yet others remain in either location for the whole year. It is only seen in alpine and subalpine areas of the Snowy Mountains
in warmer snow-free months (mainly October to April). Other populations of Crescent Honeyeaters follow a more nomadic pattern of following food sources; this has been recorded in the Blue Mountains and parts of Victoria.
studies have recaptured birds within metres of the nest in which they were raised, and one female was re-trapped at the banding place almost ten years later. The pairs nest solitarily, or in loose colonies with nests around 10 metres (32.8 ft) apart. The male defends the territory, which is used both for foraging and breeding, though during the breeding season he is more active in protecting the area, and therefore much more vocal. During courtship the male performs song flights, soaring with quivering wings and continuously calling with a high piping note.
The female builds the nest close to the boundary of the territory, usually near water, low in the shrubs. It is a deep, cup-shaped, bulky nest of cobweb, bark, grass, twigs, roots and other plant materials, lined with grass, down, moss and fur. The long strips of bark from stringybark
or messmate
trees are often used. The clutch
size is 2 or 3, occasionally 4. Measuring 19 millimetre (0.748031496062992 in) by 15 millimetre (0.590551181102362 in), the eggs are pale pink, sometimes buff-tinged, with lavender and chestnut splotches. The base colour is darker at the larger end. The female incubates
and broods the eggs, but both sexes feed the nestlings and remove fecal sac
s, although the female does the majority of caring for the young. The young birds are fed insects, with flies making up much of the regurgitated material according to one study. The incubation period is 13 days followed by a fledging period of 13 days. The parent birds feed the fledglings for around two weeks after they leave the nest, but the young do not remain long in the parents' territory. The young are independent within 40 days of egg-laying.
Parent birds have been observed using a range of anti-predator strategies: the female staying on the nest until almost touched; one or other of the pair performing distraction displays, fluttering wings and moving across the ground; the female flying rapidly at the intruder; and both birds giving harsh scolding calls when a kookaburra
, tiger snake or currawong
approached. The nests of the Crescent Honeyeater are usually low in the shrubs, which makes the birds and their young vulnerable to predation by birds and snakes, however both domestic and feral cats are the most likely predators to hunt this species.
Crescent Honeyeaters pair in long-term relationships that often last for the whole year; however, while they are socially monogamous
they appear to be sexually promiscuous
. One study found that only 42% of the nestlings were sired by the male partner at the nest despite paternity
guards such as pairing and territorial defence. The Crescent Honeyeaters observed exhibited a number of characteristics consistent with genetic promiscuity: sexual dimorphism, with sex-specific plumages identifiable at nestling stage; reduced male contribution to feeding and caring for the young; vigorous defence of the territory by the male; and frequent intrusions into other territories by the females which were tolerated by the males holding those territories.
and tree canopy on nectar, fruits and small insects. It has been recorded eating the honeydew
of psyllids, soft scale
and felt scale insects
. It feeds primarily by probing flowers for nectar, and gleaning
foliage and bark and sallying
for insects. While regularly observed feeding singly or in pairs, the Crescent Honeyeater has also been recorded moving in loose feeding flocks, and gathering in large groups at productive food sources. A study in forest near Hobart
in Tasmania found that the Crescent Honeyeater's diet was wholly composed of insects during the breeding season, but nectar was a significant component during winter. Insects consumed include moths and flies, and the tree trunks were the site of foraging around two thirds of the time, and foliage a third. It fed on nectar as plants came into flower in the autumn and winter, and then foraged in Tasmanian blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus
) during the breeding season in spring. The flowering of royal grevillea (Grevillea victoriae
) over summer in subalpine areas in the Snowy Mountains
attracted large numbers of Crescent Honeyeaters. It feeds intensively when sources are plentiful and when feeding on flame heath (Astroloma conostephioides
) it was recorded visiting an average of 34 flowers per minute. Other plants it has been recorded visiting include a number of Banksia
species, waratah (Telopea
), tubular flowered genera including Astroloma
, Epacris
and Correa, mistletoes of the genus Amyema
, and eucalypts in the Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia. In Bondi State Forest it was also recorded feeding at cluster-flower geebung (Persoonia confertiflora
), native holly (Lomatia ilicifolia
), tall shaggy-pea (Oxylobium arborescens
), silver wattle (Acacia dealbata
) and blackthorn (Bursaria spinosa
). Local differences in flower foraging patterns have been observed in South Australia; populations on Kangaroo Island forage more often at Adenanthos
flowers than those in the nearby Fleurieu Peninsula
, while the latter forage more often at eucalypt blooms, and at a higher diversity of plants overall.
for conservation, numbers have fluctuated significantly over the past twenty-five years and currently seem to be in decline. The threats to the Crescent Honeyeater include habitat destruction, as the alpine forests in which it breeds are being reduced by weed infestations, severe bush fires, drought and land clearing. The Crescent Honeyeater's dependence on long-term partnerships and breeding territories means that breeding success is threatened by the death of one partner or the destruction of habitual territory. The influx of birds to urban areas also places them at increased risk of accidents and predation. Cats have preyed upon Crescent Honeyeaters, and cat owners have been urged to keep their cats in enclosures when outside the house or provide more entertainment indoors.
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to south-eastern Australia including Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
. A member of the genus Phylidonyris
Phylidonyris
The genus Phylidonyris is a member of the Honeyeater family.It contains the following species:*White-fronted Honeyeater, Phylidonyris albifrons*New Holland Honeyeater, Phylidonyris novaehollandiae...
, it is most closely related to the common New Holland Honeyeater
New Holland Honeyeater
The New Holland Honeyeater is a honeyeater species found throughout southern Australia. It was among the first birds to be scientifically described in Australia, and was initially named Certhia novaehollandiae...
(P. novaehollandiae) and the White-cheeked Honeyeater
White-cheeked Honeyeater
The White-cheeked Honeyeater inhabits the east coast and the south-west corner of Australia. It has a large white patch on its cheek, a brown eye, and a yellow panel on its wing.- Description :...
(P. niger). Two subspecies are recognised, with P. p. halmaturinus restricted in range to Kangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island is Australia's third-largest island after Tasmania and Melville Island. It is southwest of Adelaide at the entrance of Gulf St Vincent. Its closest point to the mainland is off Cape Jervis, on the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula in the state of South Australia. The island is long...
and the Mount Lofty Ranges
Mount Lofty Ranges
The Mount Lofty Ranges are the range of mountains just to the east of Adelaide in South Australia.-Location and description:The Mount Lofty Ranges stretch from the southernmost point of the Fleurieu Peninsula at Cape Jervis northwards for over before petering out north of Peterborough...
in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
.
It is a fairly nondescript bird of dark grey plumage and paler underparts, highlighted by yellow wing patches and a broad, black crescent, outlined in white, down the sides of its breast. The species exhibits slight sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:...
, with the female being duller in colour than the male. Juvenile birds are similar to the female, though the yellow wing patches of male nestlings can be easily distinguished.
The male has a complex and variable song, which is heard throughout the year. It sings from an exposed perch, and during the breeding season performs song flights. The Crescent Honeyeater is found in areas of dense vegetation including sclerophyll
Sclerophyll
Sclerophyll is the term for a type of vegetation that has hard leaves and short internodes . The word comes from the Greek sclero and phyllon ....
forest and alpine
Alpine plant
Alpine plants are plants that grow in the alpine climate, which occurs at high elevation and above the tree line. Alpine plants grow together as a plant community in alpine tundra.-Alpine plant diversity:...
habitats, as well as heathland
Heath
-Habitats:* Heath or heathland, low-growing woody vegetation, mostly consisting of heathers and related species* Heaths in the British National Vegetation Classification system...
, and parks and gardens, where its diet is made up of nectar and invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s. It forms long-term pairs, and often stays committed to one breeding site for several years. The female builds the nest and does most of the caring for the two to three young, which become independent within 40 days of egg-laying.
The parent birds use a range of anti-predator strategies, but nestlings can be taken by snakes, kookaburra
Kookaburra
Kookaburras are terrestrial kingfishers native to Australia and New Guinea. They are large to very large, with a total length of . The name is a loanword from Wiradjuri guuguubarra, and is onomatopoeic of its call...
s, currawong
Currawong
Currawongs are three species of medium-sized passerine birds belonging to the genus Strepera in the family Artamidae native to Australasia. These are the Grey Currawong , Pied Currawong , and Black Currawong . The common name comes from the call of the familiar Pied Currawong of eastern Australia...
s or cats. While the Crescent Honeyeater faces a number of threats, its population numbers and distribution are sufficient for it to be listed as of Least Concern
Least Concern
Least Concern is an IUCN category assigned to extant taxon or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, Near Threatened, or Conservation Dependent...
for conservation.
Taxonomy
The Crescent Honeyeater was originally described by ornithologist John LathamJohn Latham (ornithologist)
John Latham was an English physician, naturalist and author. He was born at Eltham in Kent, and was the eldest son of John Latham, a surgeon there, and his mother was a descendant of the Sothebys, in Yorkshire....
in 1801 as Certhia pyrrhoptera, because of an assumed relationship with the treecreeper
Treecreeper
The treecreepers are a family, Certhiidae, of small passerine birds, widespread in wooded regions of the Northern Hemisphere and sub-Saharan Africa. The family contains ten species in two genera, Certhia and Salpornis...
s, Certhiidae. It was later named Certhia australasiana by George Shaw
George Shaw
George Shaw was an English botanist and zoologist.Shaw was born at Bierton, Buckinghamshire and was educated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, receiving his M.A. in 1772. He took up the profession of medical practitioner. In 1786 he became the assistant lecturer in botany at Oxford University...
in 1812, Melithreptus melanoleucus by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot
Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot
Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot was a French ornithologist.Vieillot described a large number of birds for the first time, especially those he encountered during the time he spent in the West Indies and North America, and 26 genera established by him are still in use...
in 1817, and Meliphaga inornata by John Gould
John Gould
John Gould was an English ornithologist and bird artist. The Gould League in Australia was named after him. His identification of the birds now nicknamed "Darwin's finches" played a role in the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection...
in 1838. The generic term comes from the French phylidonyre, which combines the names for a honeyeater and a sunbird
Sunbird
The sunbirds and spiderhunters are a family, Nectariniidae, of very small passerine birds. There are 132 species in 15 genera. The family is distributed throughout Africa, southern Asia and just reaches northern Australia. Most sunbirds feed largely on nectar, but also take insects and spiders,...
(previously thought to belong to the same family). The specific epithet is derived from the Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
stem
Word stem
In linguistics, a stem is a part of a word. The term is used with slightly different meanings.In one usage, a stem is a form to which affixes can be attached. Thus, in this usage, the English word friendships contains the stem friend, to which the derivational suffix -ship is attached to form a new...
s pyrrhos, meaning "fire", and pteron, meaning "wing", in reference to the yellow wing patches. Some guidebooks have the binomial
Binomial nomenclature
Binomial nomenclature is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, although they can be based on words from other languages...
name written as Phylidonyris pyrrhoptera; however, a review in 2001 ruled that the genus name was masculine, hence pyrrhopterus is the correct specific name. Two subspecies are recognised, the nominate form P. p. pyrrhopterus over most of its range, and P. p. halmaturinus which is restricted to Kangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island is Australia's third-largest island after Tasmania and Melville Island. It is southwest of Adelaide at the entrance of Gulf St Vincent. Its closest point to the mainland is off Cape Jervis, on the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula in the state of South Australia. The island is long...
and the Mount Lofty Ranges
Mount Lofty Ranges
The Mount Lofty Ranges are the range of mountains just to the east of Adelaide in South Australia.-Location and description:The Mount Lofty Ranges stretch from the southernmost point of the Fleurieu Peninsula at Cape Jervis northwards for over before petering out north of Peterborough...
.
A recent molecular study showed its close relatives to be the New Holland Honeyeater
New Holland Honeyeater
The New Holland Honeyeater is a honeyeater species found throughout southern Australia. It was among the first birds to be scientifically described in Australia, and was initially named Certhia novaehollandiae...
and the White-cheeked Honeyeater
White-cheeked Honeyeater
The White-cheeked Honeyeater inhabits the east coast and the south-west corner of Australia. It has a large white patch on its cheek, a brown eye, and a yellow panel on its wing.- Description :...
, the three forming the now small genus Phylidonyris. DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
analysis has shown honeyeaters to be related to the Pardalotidae (pardalotes), Acanthizidae
Acanthizidae
The Acanthizidae, also known as the Australasian warblers, are a family of passerine birds which include gerygones, thornbills, and scrubwrens. The Acanthizidae consists of small to medium passerine birds, with a total length varying between 8 and 19 cm. They have short rounded wings, slender...
(Australian warblers, scrubwrens, thornbills, etc.), and Maluridae
Maluridae
The Maluridae are a family of small, insectivorous passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea. Commonly known as wrens, they are unrelated to the true wrens of the Northern Hemisphere...
(Australian fairy-wrens) in a large Meliphagoidea
Meliphagoidea
Meliphagoidea is a superfamily of passerine birds. They contain a vast diversity of small to mid-sized songbirds widespread in the Austropacific region. The Australian Continent has the largest richness in genera and species.-Systematics:...
superfamily.
Other common names for the Crescent Honeyeater include Chinawing, Egypt and Horseshoe Honeyeater. Gould called it the Tasmanian Honeyeater.
Appearance
The Crescent Honeyeater measures 14–17 cm (5.5–6.7 in), in length, with a wingspan of 16–23 cm (6.3–9.1 in), and weighs about 16 gram (0.564383393681791 oz). It is sexually dimorphicSexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:...
, with the female a paler version of the male. The male is dark grey with clear yellow wing-patches with a broad, black crescent, outlined in white, down the sides of its breast, and a white streak above his eye. The top of the tail is black, with yellow edges to the feathers forming distinctive yellow panels on the sides of the tail. White tips on the undertail are usually only visible in flight. The underparts are pale brownish-grey fading to white. The female is duller, olive brown with faded yellow wing patches with similar, though less clear, crescentic markings. Both sexes have dark grey legs and feet, deep ruby eyes and a long, downcurved black bill. The gape
Gape
In bird anatomy, the gape is the interior of the open mouth of a bird and the gape flange is the region where the two mandibles join together, at the base of the beak...
is also black. Young birds are similar to the adults, though not as strongly marked, and have dark grey bills, duller brown eyes and yellow gapes. Male nestlings can be distinguished by their more extensive yellow wing patches from 7 days old. Moulting patterns of the species are poorly known; Crescent Honeyeaters appear to replace their primary flight feathers between October and January.
While both subspecies have the same general appearance, the female of halmaturinus has paler plumage than the nominate race, and both male and female have a smaller wing and tail and longer bill. The halmaturinus population on Kangaroo Island has a significantly shorter wing and longer bill than the Mount Lofty population, although this size variation of an insular
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
form is at odds with Allen's
Allen's rule
Allen's rule is a biological rule posited by Joel Asaph Allen in 1877. It states that endotherms from colder climates usually have shorter limbs than the equivalent animals from warmer climates.- Theory :...
and Bergmann's
Bergmann's Rule
Bergmann's rule is an ecogeographic principle that states that within a broadly distributed genus, species of larger size are found in colder environments, and species of smaller size are found in warmer regions. Although originally formulated in terms of species within a genus, it has often been...
rules.
Vocalisation
The Crescent Honeyeater has a range of musical calls and songs. One study recorded chatter alarm calls similar to the New Holland HoneyeaterNew Holland Honeyeater
The New Holland Honeyeater is a honeyeater species found throughout southern Australia. It was among the first birds to be scientifically described in Australia, and was initially named Certhia novaehollandiae...
, a number of harsh monosyllabic
Syllable
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus with optional initial and final margins .Syllables are often considered the phonological "building...
or tri-syllabic
Syllable
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus with optional initial and final margins .Syllables are often considered the phonological "building...
contact calls
Contact calls
Seemingly haphazard sounds made by many social animals are known as contact calls. Contact calls are very different from many other types of calls , as contact calls are not a specific signal, designed to communicate some specific information...
, and complex and diverse songs. The most common contact call is a loud, carrying "e-gypt", while the alarm call is a sharp and rapid "chip-chip-chip". The male also has a melodic song which is heard throughout the year, at any time of the day. The structure of the song is complex and diverse, and includes both a descending whistle and a musical two-note call. The male's song is performed from an exposed perch or within the tree canopy, and it engages in song flights during the breeding season. When the female is on the nest and the male nearby, they utter low soft notes identified as "whisper song".
Distribution and habitat
There are records of scattered populations of the Crescent Honeyeater on the Central TablelandsCentral Tablelands
The Central Tablelands in New South Wales is an area that is between the Sydney Metropolitan Area and the Central West Slopes and Plains. This area has a part of the Great Dividing Range running through it, including the Blue Mountains...
, the Mid North Coast, and in the Hunter Valley
Hunter Valley
The Hunter Region, more commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney with an approximate population of 645,395 people. Most of the population of the Hunter Region lives within of the coast, with 55% of the entire...
of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, and it is widespread in the areas of New South Wales south of Dharug National Park
Dharug National Park
Dharug National Park is a national park in New South Wales , 58 km north of Sydney.-Fact sheet:*Area: 152 km²*Coordinates: *Date of establishment: October 1, 1967...
and east of Bathurst
Bathurst, New South Wales
-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...
. In Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
it is widespread across an area from the NSW border south west to Wallan
Wallan, Victoria
Wallan or Wallan Wallan is a town in Victoria, from Melbourne on the Northern Highway in Australia.The town sits at the southern end of the large and diverse Shire of Mitchell which extends from the northern fringes of Melbourne into the farming country of north-central Victoria and the lower...
with scattered populations recorded further west. It is widespread in Tasmania, except in the north-east part of the state where it is more sparsely distributed. It is restricted to sclerophyll forest in eastern South Australia, where isolated populations have been recorded in the Mount Lofty Ranges
Mount Lofty Ranges
The Mount Lofty Ranges are the range of mountains just to the east of Adelaide in South Australia.-Location and description:The Mount Lofty Ranges stretch from the southernmost point of the Fleurieu Peninsula at Cape Jervis northwards for over before petering out north of Peterborough...
and on Kangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island is Australia's third-largest island after Tasmania and Melville Island. It is southwest of Adelaide at the entrance of Gulf St Vincent. Its closest point to the mainland is off Cape Jervis, on the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula in the state of South Australia. The island is long...
. Local influxes have occurred outside its normal range in response to changes in habitat. Recorded population densities range from 0.3 birds per hectare (0.1 per acre) near Orbost
Orbost, Victoria
Orbost is a town in the Shire of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, located east of Melbourne and south of Canberra where the Princes Highway crosses the Snowy River. It is about from the town of Marlo on the coast of Bass Strait. At the 2006 census, Orbost had a population of 2452...
, to 8.7 pairs per hectare (3.4 per acre) in Boola Boola State Forest, also in Victoria.
While the Crescent Honeyeater occupies a wide variety of habitats including coastal heath
Heath (habitat)
A heath or heathland is a dwarf-shrub habitat found on mainly low quality acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often dominated by plants of the Ericaceae. There are some clear differences between heath and moorland...
, rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
, wet sclerophyll
Sclerophyll
Sclerophyll is the term for a type of vegetation that has hard leaves and short internodes . The word comes from the Greek sclero and phyllon ....
forest, mountain forest, alpine
Alpine climate
Alpine climate is the average weather for a region above the tree line. This climate is also referred to as mountain climate or highland climate....
woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
, damp gullies and thick tea-tree
Melaleuca
Melaleuca is a genus of plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae known for its natural soothing and cleansing properties. There are well over 200 recognised species, most of which are endemic to Australia...
scrub, they all demonstrate its preference for dense vegetation. It has been frequently recorded in wet sclerophyll forest dominated by eucalypt
Eucalypt
Eucalypts are woody plants belonging to three closely related genera:Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora.In 1995 new evidence, largely genetic, indicated that some prominent Eucalyptus species were actually more closely related to Angophora than to the other eucalypts; they were split off into the...
s and with a thick mid-story and understory
Understory
Understory is the term for the area of a forest which grows at the lowest height level below the forest canopy. Plants in the understory consist of a mixture of seedlings and saplings of canopy trees together with understory shrubs and herbs...
of shrubs such as blackwood, silver wattle
Acacia dealbata
Acacia dealbata is a species of Acacia, native to southeastern Australia in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and the Australian Capital Territory.-Description:...
, Cassinia
Cassinia
Cassinia is a large genus of plants in the family Asteraceae, most or all of which are native to the Southern Hemisphere. It was named for French botanist Alexandre de Cassini.Species include:*Cassinia accipitrum Orchard...
, Prostanthera
Prostanthera
Prostanthera, commonly known as Mintbush, is a genus of plants of the family Lamiaceae. There are about 90 species within the genus, all of which are endemic to Australia. The word is derived from the Greek, which refers to an appendage...
, and Correa. At higher altitudes it occurs in alpine heathlands and in woodlands of stunted eucalypt or conifers.
The movements of the Crescent Honeyeater within its range are incompletely known. There is widespread evidence of seasonal migration to lower altitudes in cooler months, yet a proportion of the population remains sedentary. Autumn and winter migration to the lowland coastal areas is seen in southern Tasmania, where it is not unusual to see it in urban parks and gardens, as well as Gippsland
Gippsland
Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...
, and the New South Wales Central and South Coast. In the Sydney region, some birds appear to move down from the Blue Mountains to Sydney for the cooler months, yet others remain in either location for the whole year. It is only seen in alpine and subalpine areas of the Snowy Mountains
Snowy Mountains
The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", are the highest Australian mountain range and contain the Australian mainland's highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, which reaches 2,228 metres AHD, approximately 7310 feet....
in warmer snow-free months (mainly October to April). Other populations of Crescent Honeyeaters follow a more nomadic pattern of following food sources; this has been recorded in the Blue Mountains and parts of Victoria.
Behaviour
Breeding
Crescent Honeyeaters occupy territories during the breeding season of July to March, with pairs often staying on in the territory at the end of the season and committing to one breeding site for several years. BandingBird ringing
Bird ringing or bird banding is a technique used in the study of wild birds, by attaching a small, individually numbered, metal or plastic tag to their legs or wings, so that various aspects of the bird's life can be studied by the ability to re-find the same individual later...
studies have recaptured birds within metres of the nest in which they were raised, and one female was re-trapped at the banding place almost ten years later. The pairs nest solitarily, or in loose colonies with nests around 10 metres (32.8 ft) apart. The male defends the territory, which is used both for foraging and breeding, though during the breeding season he is more active in protecting the area, and therefore much more vocal. During courtship the male performs song flights, soaring with quivering wings and continuously calling with a high piping note.
The female builds the nest close to the boundary of the territory, usually near water, low in the shrubs. It is a deep, cup-shaped, bulky nest of cobweb, bark, grass, twigs, roots and other plant materials, lined with grass, down, moss and fur. The long strips of bark from stringybark
Stringybark
A stringybark can be any of the many Eucalyptus species which have thick, fibrous bark. Like all eucalypts, stringybarks belong to the Myrtaceae family. In exceptionally fertile locations some stringybark species A stringybark can be any of the many Eucalyptus species which have thick, fibrous...
or messmate
Messmate
Messmate is a common name for a group of species of tree in the plant genus Eucalyptus, all of which have rough bark. The name is of uncertain origin.Species commonly known as "messmate" include:* E. acmenoides...
trees are often used. The clutch
Clutch (eggs)
A clutch of eggs refers to all the eggs produced by birds or reptiles, often at a single time, particularly those laid in a nest.In birds, destruction of a clutch by predators, , results in double-clutching...
size is 2 or 3, occasionally 4. Measuring 19 millimetre (0.748031496062992 in) by 15 millimetre (0.590551181102362 in), the eggs are pale pink, sometimes buff-tinged, with lavender and chestnut splotches. The base colour is darker at the larger end. The female incubates
Avian incubation
Incubation refers to the process by which certain oviparous animals hatch their eggs, and to the development of the embryo within the egg. The most vital factor of incubation is the constant temperature required for its development over a specific period. Especially in domestic fowl, the act of...
and broods the eggs, but both sexes feed the nestlings and remove fecal sac
Fecal sac
A fecal sac is a mucous membrane, generally white or clear with a dark end, that surrounds the feces of some species of nestling birds. It allows parent birds to more easily remove fecal material from the nest...
s, although the female does the majority of caring for the young. The young birds are fed insects, with flies making up much of the regurgitated material according to one study. The incubation period is 13 days followed by a fledging period of 13 days. The parent birds feed the fledglings for around two weeks after they leave the nest, but the young do not remain long in the parents' territory. The young are independent within 40 days of egg-laying.
Parent birds have been observed using a range of anti-predator strategies: the female staying on the nest until almost touched; one or other of the pair performing distraction displays, fluttering wings and moving across the ground; the female flying rapidly at the intruder; and both birds giving harsh scolding calls when a kookaburra
Kookaburra
Kookaburras are terrestrial kingfishers native to Australia and New Guinea. They are large to very large, with a total length of . The name is a loanword from Wiradjuri guuguubarra, and is onomatopoeic of its call...
, tiger snake or currawong
Currawong
Currawongs are three species of medium-sized passerine birds belonging to the genus Strepera in the family Artamidae native to Australasia. These are the Grey Currawong , Pied Currawong , and Black Currawong . The common name comes from the call of the familiar Pied Currawong of eastern Australia...
approached. The nests of the Crescent Honeyeater are usually low in the shrubs, which makes the birds and their young vulnerable to predation by birds and snakes, however both domestic and feral cats are the most likely predators to hunt this species.
Crescent Honeyeaters pair in long-term relationships that often last for the whole year; however, while they are socially monogamous
Monogamy
Monogamy /Gr. μονός+γάμος - one+marriage/ a form of marriage in which an individual has only one spouse at any one time. In current usage monogamy often refers to having one sexual partner irrespective of marriage or reproduction...
they appear to be sexually promiscuous
Promiscuity
In humans, promiscuity refers to less discriminating casual sex with many sexual partners. The term carries a moral or religious judgement and is viewed in the context of the mainstream social ideal for sexual activity to take place within exclusive committed relationships...
. One study found that only 42% of the nestlings were sired by the male partner at the nest despite paternity
Parent
A parent is a caretaker of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is of a child . Children can have one or more parents, but they must have two biological parents. Biological parents consist of the male who sired the child and the female who gave birth to the child...
guards such as pairing and territorial defence. The Crescent Honeyeaters observed exhibited a number of characteristics consistent with genetic promiscuity: sexual dimorphism, with sex-specific plumages identifiable at nestling stage; reduced male contribution to feeding and caring for the young; vigorous defence of the territory by the male; and frequent intrusions into other territories by the females which were tolerated by the males holding those territories.
Feeding
The Crescent Honeyeater is arboreal, foraging mainly among the foliage and flowers in the understoryUnderstory
Understory is the term for the area of a forest which grows at the lowest height level below the forest canopy. Plants in the understory consist of a mixture of seedlings and saplings of canopy trees together with understory shrubs and herbs...
and tree canopy on nectar, fruits and small insects. It has been recorded eating the honeydew
Honeydew (secretion)
Honeydew is a sugar-rich sticky liquid, secreted by aphids and some scale insects as they feed on plant sap. When their mouthpart penetrates the phloem, the sugary, high-pressure liquid is forced out of the gut's terminal opening. Honeydew is particularly common as a secretion in the Hemipteran...
of psyllids, soft scale
Coccidae
The Coccidae are a family of scale insects belonging to the superfamily Coccoidea. They are commonly known as soft scales, wax scales or tortoise scales. The females are flat with elongated oval bodies and a smooth integument which may be covered with wax. In some genera they possess legs but in...
and felt scale insects
Eriococcidae
Eriococcidae is a family of scale insects in the order Hemiptera. They are commonly known as felt scales or eriococcids. Each species is usually specific to a different plant host....
. It feeds primarily by probing flowers for nectar, and gleaning
Gleaning (birds)
Gleaning is a term for a feeding strategy by birds in which they catch invertebrate prey, mainly arthropods, by plucking them from foliage or the ground, from crevices such as rock faces and under the eaves of houses, or even, as in the case of ticks and lice, from living animals. This behavior is...
foliage and bark and sallying
Hawking (birds)
Hawking is a feeding strategy in birds involving catching flying insects in the air. The term usually refers to a technique of sallying out from a perch to snatch an insect and then returning to the same or a different perch...
for insects. While regularly observed feeding singly or in pairs, the Crescent Honeyeater has also been recorded moving in loose feeding flocks, and gathering in large groups at productive food sources. A study in forest near Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
in Tasmania found that the Crescent Honeyeater's diet was wholly composed of insects during the breeding season, but nectar was a significant component during winter. Insects consumed include moths and flies, and the tree trunks were the site of foraging around two thirds of the time, and foliage a third. It fed on nectar as plants came into flower in the autumn and winter, and then foraged in Tasmanian blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus
Eucalyptus globulus
The Tasmanian Blue Gum, Southern Blue Gum or Blue Gum, is an evergreen tree, one of the most widely cultivated trees native to Australia. They typically grow from 30 to 55 m tall. The tallest currently known specimen in Tasmania is 90.7 m tall...
) during the breeding season in spring. The flowering of royal grevillea (Grevillea victoriae
Grevillea victoriae
Grevillea victoriae, also known as Royal Grevillea or Mountain Grevillea, is a shrub which is endemic to south-eastern New South Wales and mountainous parts of Victoria in Australia.-Description:...
) over summer in subalpine areas in the Snowy Mountains
Snowy Mountains
The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", are the highest Australian mountain range and contain the Australian mainland's highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, which reaches 2,228 metres AHD, approximately 7310 feet....
attracted large numbers of Crescent Honeyeaters. It feeds intensively when sources are plentiful and when feeding on flame heath (Astroloma conostephioides
Astroloma conostephioides
Astroloma conostephioides, commonly known as Flame Heath, is small shrub species in the family Ericaceae. It is endemic to south-eastern Australia. Plants grow to 1 metre in height and have prickly blue-green leaves. The red, tubular flowers, which appear between March and November in the species...
) it was recorded visiting an average of 34 flowers per minute. Other plants it has been recorded visiting include a number of Banksia
Banksia
Banksia is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes and fruiting "cones" and heads. When it comes to size, banksias range from prostrate woody shrubs to trees up...
species, waratah (Telopea
Waratah
Waratah is a genus of five species of large shrubs or small trees in the Proteaceae, native to the southeastern parts of Australia...
), tubular flowered genera including Astroloma
Astroloma
Astroloma is an endemic Australian genus of around 20 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae.The majority of the species are endemic in Western Australia, but a few species occur in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia....
, Epacris
Epacris
Epacris is a genus of about 35-40 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, though formerly often treated in a separate family Epacridaceae. The genus is native to eastern and southeastern Australia , New Caledonia and New Zealand...
and Correa, mistletoes of the genus Amyema
Amyema
Amyema is a genus of semi-parasitic shrubs which occur in Malesia and Australia.-Species:There are approximately 90 species including the following:* Amyema artensis Dan...
, and eucalypts in the Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia. In Bondi State Forest it was also recorded feeding at cluster-flower geebung (Persoonia confertiflora
Persoonia confertiflora
Persoonia confertiflora, commonly known as Cluster-flower Geebung, is a shrub species which is native to eastern Australia. It can reach up to 1.5 metres in height and has lanceolate or elliptic leaves. The yellow flowers have four curved petals. These are followed by fleshy green fruits that later...
), native holly (Lomatia ilicifolia
Lomatia ilicifolia
Lomatia ilicifolia, commonly known as Holly Lomatia or Native Holly, is a shrub species that is native to eastern Australia. The species grows up to 3 metres high and has ovate to elliptic, prickly leaves that are 10 to 18 cm long and 2.5 to 5.5 centimetres wide...
), tall shaggy-pea (Oxylobium arborescens
Oxylobium arborescens
Oxylobium arborescens, known as the tall shaggy-pea is a shrub to small tree in the pea family, found in south-eastern Australia....
), silver wattle (Acacia dealbata
Acacia dealbata
Acacia dealbata is a species of Acacia, native to southeastern Australia in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and the Australian Capital Territory.-Description:...
) and blackthorn (Bursaria spinosa
Bursaria spinosa
Bursaria spinosa is a small tree or shrub in the family Pittosporaceae. The species occurs in mainly in the eastern and southern half of Australia and not in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Reaching 10 m high, it bears fragrant white flowers at any time of year but particularly summer...
). Local differences in flower foraging patterns have been observed in South Australia; populations on Kangaroo Island forage more often at Adenanthos
Adenanthos
Adenanthos is an genus of Australian native shrubs in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. Variable in habit and leaf shape, it is the only Proteaceae genus in which solitary flowers is the norm. It was discovered in 1791, and formally published by Jacques Labillardière in 1805. There are now 33...
flowers than those in the nearby Fleurieu Peninsula
Fleurieu Peninsula
The Fleurieu Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Adelaide in South Australia, Australia. It was named after the French explorer and hydrographer Charles Pierre Claret de Fleurieu by the French explorer Nicolas Baudin as he mapped the south coast of Australia in 1802.Towns of interest in the...
, while the latter forage more often at eucalypt blooms, and at a higher diversity of plants overall.
Conservation status
While the population numbers and distribution are sufficient for the Crescent Honeyeater to be listed as of Least ConcernLeast Concern
Least Concern is an IUCN category assigned to extant taxon or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, Near Threatened, or Conservation Dependent...
for conservation, numbers have fluctuated significantly over the past twenty-five years and currently seem to be in decline. The threats to the Crescent Honeyeater include habitat destruction, as the alpine forests in which it breeds are being reduced by weed infestations, severe bush fires, drought and land clearing. The Crescent Honeyeater's dependence on long-term partnerships and breeding territories means that breeding success is threatened by the death of one partner or the destruction of habitual territory. The influx of birds to urban areas also places them at increased risk of accidents and predation. Cats have preyed upon Crescent Honeyeaters, and cat owners have been urged to keep their cats in enclosures when outside the house or provide more entertainment indoors.