birding-aus

Re; Birding-aus Bird ID.

To: "Birding-aus" <>
Subject: Re; Birding-aus Bird ID.
From: "Paul Walbridge" <>
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 18:24:31 +1000
David Geering said "Here's something I've just received.  No more detail than I have so no point in asking for more info or pointing out that more would be useful."
 
Hi all, this is a request I often get from non-birding staff members at the Prince Charles Hospital, Chermside, Brisbane. It's a bird that has increased immensely in numbers around Brisbane since I first moved here a couple of decades ago & can be seen right into the outskirts of the CBD. I refer to the Blue-faced Honeyeater.
 
Inner-city developers have had an annoying tendency of planting palms in the limited space they have left at their disposal. This has unwittingly provided the Blue-faces with a constant food source; the larvae & pupae of the Orange Palm Dart butterfly Cephrenes augiades & the Yellow Palm Dart Cephrenes trichopepla which feed on both exotic and native palms. The larvae draw the edges of a single frond together with silk and pupate this way. The larvae grow to about 3-4cm and would make quite a juicy meal for what is a fairly large honeyeater. I have observed this species on numerous occasions to prise the closed fronds apart to extract the larvae/pupae.
 
The description of the birds noted in Wamuran, sound consistent with Blue-faced Honeyeater. Cheers - Paul Walbridge.
 
 
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