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Black-headed Honeyeaters are very small nectar-eating birds. Except for small creamy-white arches of skin above the eyes, their entire head, plus the neck and shoulders, are black. There is NO white neck band. The rest of the front, from the breast down to the undertail coverts, is light-grey. The back and rump are olive-grey. The wings are dark-grey, the uppertail is also dark-grey, while the undertail is light-grey. The irises are dark. The short, slightly down-curved bill is black, while the legs and feet are the colour of skin. Juveniles have a brownish head. The eye skin is bluish-white and base of the bill is yellowish.

The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org .

The global distribution of the Black-headed Honeyeater is available HERE .

Black-headed Honeyeaters are endemic to Tasmania and smaller islands along Bass Strait. In Tasmania they are found along the North coast and the eastern half, except a small area to the South of Launceston, but including all the smaller islands along the South-east coast. They only occasionally enter the peaks of the central highlands and basically never stay on the wet western side of the divide. In addition, they also occur on the three small islands near the north-western tip of Tasmania and King Island. They are also found on Flinders Island, but not on either Cape Barren Island or Clarke Island.

Black-headed Honeyeaters have a preference for mature forest, in particular for dense growth within these forests.

B. Hensen reports spotting Black-headed Honeyeaters both on Bruny Island, TAS, and in the Peter Murrell Reserve, near Kingston, TAS, in March 2016.

M. Eaton found a Black-headed Honeyeater at Mt. Nelson, Hobart, TAS, in April 2021, and at both Peter Murrell Reserve, near Kingston, TAS, and Margate, Kingborough, TAS, in September 2021.