Saturday more Yellow-faced honeyeaters and others honeyeater Question

[Jack & Andrea Holland <>]

Thanks Jean, I agree with Philip, very unlikely to be Crescent Honeyeaters as I can’t recall them ever being caught up with the migration unlike some other species such as Fuscous and White-eared HEs. 

 

They are altitudinal migrants that generally don’t come until the start of May (or later), and usually only singly or in small groups, and their numbers can be very dependent on where their preferred species are flowering.

 

I’m actually going to give the Crescent Honeyeater as the bird of the month at the 10 April COG meeting, so please get your questions ready (or send them to me now so I can be prepared!).

 

Jack Holland

 

From: Philip Veerman

Sent: Saturday, March 23, 2019 10:06 AM

To: 'Jean Casburn' ; m("canberrabirds.org.au","canberrabirds");"> 'canberrabirds'

Subject: RE: [canberrabirds] Saturday more Yellow-faced honeyeaters and others honeyeater Question

 

That is interesting. Crescent Honeyeaters are not a particularly social species. Nor are they common enough to generally have that many together. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t. In Tasmania I found them much more common, but locally only in collections, along the Murrumbidgee river.

 

Funny though when I was in Philippines I several times I heard a bird call just like Crescent Honeyeaters but of course it wasn’t. I still don’t know.

 

Philip

 

From: Jean Casburn [
Sent: Saturday, 23 March, 2019 9:46 AM
To: canberrabirds
Subject: [canberrabirds] Saturday more Yellow-faced honeyeaters and others honeyeater Question

 

A small flock of about 10 YFHE came over this morning while I was outside for 5 minutes.

Also an unidentified flock of about 10 honeyeaters, the size of Crescent Honeyeaters with strident calls, came after the Yellow-faced .  Do Crescent Honeyeaters move out from the mountains or migrate? Could this group have been Crescents?

Jean