22-415: The western spinebill ( Acanthorhynchus superciliosus ) is a honeyeater found in the heath and woodland of south-western Australia . Ranging between 12–16 centimetres (4.7–6.3 in) long, it weighs around 10 grams (0.35 oz). It has a black head, gray back and wings, with a red band behind its neck and from its throat to its breast. Its curved bill is long and slender. Like other honeyeaters,
44-588: A clade which is a sister taxon to all other honeyeaters. The two are members of the genus Acanthorhynchus , from the Ancient Greek akantha , meaning 'spine' and rhunkhos , meaning 'bill'. The specific name superciliosus is Latin for 'eyebrowed', a reference to the male's bold white supercilium. Early settler George Fletcher Moore reported that the Noongar , southwestern Australia's indigenous people , called this species "buljit". The western spinebill
66-456: A diet of nectar supplemented by varying quantities of insects. In general, the honeyeaters with long, fine bills are more nectarivorous, the shorter-billed species less so, but even specialised nectar eaters like the spinebills take extra insects to add protein to their diet when breeding. The movements of honeyeaters are poorly understood. Most are at least partially mobile but many movements seem to be local, possibly between favourite haunts as
88-583: A honeyeater. It is now known as " MacGregor's honeyeater " and is classified in the Meliphagidae. The wattled smoky honeyeater ( Melipotes carolae ), described in 2007, had been discovered in December 2005 in the Foja Mountains of Papua , Indonesia . In 2008, a study that included molecular phylogenetic analysis of museum specimens in the genera Moho and Chaetoptila , both extinct genera endemic to
110-420: Is a small honeyeater with a slender, curved bill . It ranges in length from 12 to 16 cm (4.7 to 6.3 in), and in weight from 8–11 g (0.28–0.39 oz). Males are, on average, slightly larger than females. The sexes differ somewhat in plumage. The male is dark olive-grey above with a chestnut nape. Below, his throat and breast are chestnut, edged below with a white band and a black band; his abdomen
132-412: Is buff. He has a white eyebrow and a black mask, and white outer tail feathers which are ' flirted ' in flight. The female is plainer, with a pale rufous nape. Her throat and underparts are variously described as rufous-buff or pale grey, and she lacks the distinctive banding of the male. The immature resembles a plainer female, though with a yellow base to the bill. The high, shrill, staccato piping of
154-526: Is kept in Western Australian aviaries, as the sister species Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris of the east is held in captivity in Sydney, due to the local species being available to avicultural enthusiasts of honeyeaters. The western spinebill is known to be locally nomadic. Like other honeyeaters, the western spinebill feeds primarily on nectar . It feeds for longer time periods—and ingests more nectar—in
176-592: Is known that the honeyeaters are important in New Zealand (see Anthornis ) as well, and assumed that the same applies in other areas. Honeyeaters can be either nectarivorous , insectivorous , frugivorous , or a combination of nectar- and insect-eating. Unlike the hummingbirds of America, honeyeaters do not have extensive adaptations for hovering flight, though smaller members of the family do hover hummingbird-style to collect nectar from time to time. In general, honeyeaters prefer to flit quickly from perch to perch in
198-743: The Australian chats , myzomelas , friarbirds , wattlebirds , miners and melidectes . They are most common in Australia and New Guinea , and found also in New Zealand , the Pacific islands as far east as Samoa and Tonga , and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea known as Wallacea . Bali , on the other side of the Wallace Line , has a single species. In total, there are 186 species in 55 genera , roughly half of them native to Australia, many of
220-459: The Meliphagidae, have recently been transferred to the Zosteropidae on genetic evidence. The genus Notiomystis (New Zealand stitchbird), formerly classified in the Meliphagidae, has recently been removed to the newly erected Notiomystidae of which it is the only member. The "Macgregor's bird-of-paradise", historically considered a bird-of-paradise ( Paradisaeidae ), was recently found to be
242-495: The conditions change. Fluctuations in local abundance are common, but the small number of definitely migratory honeyeater species aside, the reasons are yet to be discovered. Many follow the flowering of favourite food plants. Arid zone species appear to travel further and less predictably than those of the more fertile areas. It seems probable that no single explanation will emerge. The genera Cleptornis (golden honeyeater) and Apalopteron (Bonin honeyeater), formerly treated in
SECTION 10
#1732859531141264-464: The female, only very occasionally by the male. Nestlings are fed by both parents, and fledge after 15 days or so. Both parents continue to feed the fledglings for some time after they leave the nest. The species is one of many known to host the offspring of the pallid cuckoo , a brood parasite . Honeyeater See text The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family , Meliphagidae , of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes
286-646: The first 60 to 90 minutes of each day than it does later in the day. Banksia ilicifolia is particularly sought over other banksias, which may be foraged, including B. menziesii (although birds do not congregate in greater numbers when this species is flowering), and B. sessilis . The western spinebill has been observed foraging at flower spikes lower down in the tree canopy, possibly to avoid larger and more aggressive honeyeaters. The western spinebill breeds primarily from September to January, though eggs have been noted as early as August, and fledglings as late as March. The female, only very occasionally with help from
308-418: The larger species, notably the white-eared honeyeater , and the strong-billed honeyeater of Tasmania , probe under bark for insects and other morsels. Many species supplement their diets with a little fruit, and a small number eat considerable amounts of fruit, particularly in tropical rainforests and, oddly, in semi-arid scrubland. The painted honeyeater is a mistletoe specialist. Most, however, exist on
330-485: The male, builds a tidy cup nest from bark, grass, plant stems, and plant down, bound with spider webs to a low bush or tree. The nest, which is sometimes conspicuous, is typically located 1–5 m (3.3–16.4 ft) off the ground. The female lays 1–2 eggs , which measure 17 mm × 13 mm (0.67 in × 0.51 in) on average. These are pinkish or bluish with spots and blotches of chestnut or purplish-brown. The eggs are incubated primarily by
352-451: The only honeyeaters able to gain nectar out of the tube-like flowers. It breeds from September to January, in a nest made from bark, plant stems, down and spider web. It lays 1–2 eggs, usually incubated by the female. First described by John Gould in 1837, the western spinebill is a monotypic species, with only one form found across its range. It forms a superspecies with the closely related eastern spinebill . Scientists believe
374-486: The outer foliage, stretching up or sideways or hanging upside down at need. Many genera have a highly developed brush-tipped tongue, frayed and fringed with bristles which soak up liquids readily. The tongue is flicked rapidly and repeatedly into a flower, the upper mandible then compressing any liquid out when the bill is closed. In addition to nectar, all or nearly all honeyeaters take insects and other small creatures, usually by hawking , sometimes by gleaning . A few of
396-487: The remainder occupying New Guinea. With their closest relatives, the Maluridae (Australian fairy-wrens), Pardalotidae (pardalotes), and Acanthizidae (thornbills, Australian warblers, scrubwrens, etc.), they comprise the superfamily Meliphagoidea and originated early in the evolutionary history of the oscine passerine radiation. Although honeyeaters look and behave very much like other nectar-feeding passerines around
418-407: The two sister species are descended from a shared ancestor whose once widespread populations were separated by climate change . During a past period of desertification , that ancestor species retreated to refuges in the southwestern and southeastern corners of the continent, and evolved into the two present-day spinebill species. Recent DNA studies have shown that the two spinebills belong to
440-744: The western spinebill feeds on nectar. It tends to obtain its nectar from lower shrubs than most other honeyeaters, including Banksia , Dryandra , Grevillea , Adenanthos , and Verticordia . It also feeds from trees of Banksia and Eucalyptus , and from herbs such as Anigozanthos . In addition to nectar, it feeds on insects that it captures in the air or on plants. It is a frequent visitor to Adenanthos obovatus , and its territories are smaller when they contain more shrubs of this species. Male spinebills often contest their territory borders with other males, and allow females to live within them. These territories range from 0.2 to 0.5 hectares in size. With their long curved bills, western spinebills are
462-458: The western spinebill is transcribed as kleet-kleet or kleat-kleat . Endemic to the southwestern corner of Western Australia , the western spinebill is found from north of Jurien Bay to Israelite Bay , and inland to an arc described by Moora , Corrigin and Lake Grace . It is common in the understorey of heaths, coastal scrub, woodlands and forest, and in Banksia thickets. The species
SECTION 20
#1732859531141484-460: The world (such as the sunbirds and flowerpeckers ), they are unrelated, and the similarities are the consequence of convergent evolution . The extent of the evolutionary partnership between honeyeaters and Australasian flowering plants is unknown, but probably substantial. A great many Australian plants are fertilised by honeyeaters, particularly the Proteaceae , Myrtaceae , and Ericaceae . It
#140859