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Blue-faced HoneyeaterAlternate name(s): "Banana-bird*", "Blue-eye", "Pandanas-bird" Size: 25-31 cm; wing span 44 cm (average) Weight: 85-135 g |
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Similar |
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Photos |
Race "cyanotis"
Not the photos you want? Or are you after even better quality? Have a
look here .
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ADULT |
Sex unknown |
Frontal view of a Blue-faced Honeyeater
[Near Narrabri, NSW, October 2006]
Close-up frontal view of a Blue-faced Honeyeater checking out the
photographer
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, March 2012]
Near-frontal view of a Blue-faced Honeyeater
[20 km South of Narrabri, NSW, March 2006]
Near-frontal view of a Blue-faced Honeyeater
[Coonabarabran, NSW, November 2018]
Close-up near-lateral view of a Blue-faced Honeyeater
[Eulah Creek, NSW, November 2022]
Near-lateral view of a Blue-faced Honeyeater
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Moggill Regional Park, near Anstead, QLD, May 2019]
Close-up near-lateral/ventral view of a Blue-faced Honeyeater
checking out the observer
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, September 2010]
Close-up lateral portrait of a Blue-faced Honeyeater feasting in a
Callistemon
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2022]
Lateral view of a Blue-faced Honeyeater displaying the full
splendour of its blue face in brilliant sunlight
[20 km South of Narrabri, NSW, October 2006]
Lateral view of a Blue-faced Honeyeater performing acrobatics
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, November 2010]
Close-up lateral portrait of a Blue-faced Honeyeater looking backwards;
note the pollen on its chin
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2022]
Lateral/ventral view of a Blue-faced Honeyeater
Near-dorsal view of a Blue-faced Honeyeater
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Yamba, NSW, January 2021]
When jumping around in a
Cypress pine
tree, this Blue-faced Honeyeater released spores in a cloud of dust
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2015]
Dorsal view of a Blue-faced Honeyeater
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Yamba, NSW, January 2021]
Dorsal view of a Blue-faced Honeyeater
(photo courtesy of R. Druce)
[Maules Creek, NSW, October 2012]
While feeding in a
bottlebrush
tree, this Blue-faced Honeyeater clearly exhibits
the white band around the nape of its neck
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2013]
Lateral view of a Blue-faced Honeyeater just after take-off
(photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Ashmore, Gold Coast, QLD, November 2022]
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IMMATURE/JUVENILE |
Close-up lateral view of a sub-adult Blue-faced Honeyeater
on a low roost, just 2 m off the ground; note the remnant
greenish-yellow colour in the orbital skin
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2022]
Near-lateral/ventral portrait of an immature Blue-faced Honeyeater
on a low roost, just 2 m off the ground; note the intermediate
facial skin colour
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2017]
Frontal view of a juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2021]
Frontal view of a juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater
[Near Narrabri, NSW, 2006]
Near-frontal view of a juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater
(photo courtesy of J. Ross-Taylor)
[Ashmore, Gold Coast, QLD, February 2015]
Near-frontal view of a preening juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2008]
Lateral view of a juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Moggill, QLD, January 2023]
Near-dorsal view of a juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Moggill, QLD, January 2023]
Adult, back, with juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater, front
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Cooroy, QLD, December 2017]
Family of Blue-faced Honeyeaters including juvenile birds
making one big racket about a roosting
Southern Boobook
[Eulah Creek, NSW, March 2016]
Adult Blue-faced Honeyeater feeding a juvenile
(photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Ashmore, Gold Coast, QLD, August 2015]
Clutch of juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeaters
(photo courtesy of C. Kellenberg)
Near-frontal view of two fledgling Blue-faced Honeyeaters
(photo courtesy of C. Hayne)
Near-frontal/ventral view of a fledgling Blue-faced Honeyeater
[Brewarrina, NSW, September 2012]
Near-frontal/ventral view of a fledgling Blue-faced Honeyeater
[Eulah Creek, NSW, May 2020]
Lateral/ventral view of a fledgling Blue-faced Honeyeater
[Eulah Creek, NSW, May 2020]
Race "griseigularis"
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ADULT |
Sex unknown |
Frontal/ventral view of an adult Blue-faced Honeyeater - note the
large blue skin patch
(photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Mareeba, QLD, September 2019]
Near-frontal view of a Blue-faced Honeyeater
(photo courtesy of R. Russell)
[Mount Molloy, QLD, June 2008]
Family clan of Blue-faced Honeyeaters preening
(photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Normanton, QLD, September 2019]
Race "albipennis"
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ADULT |
Sex unknown |
Near-frontal view of a Blue-faced Honeyeater - note the long
bill, which is characteristic of race "albipennis"
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Darwin, NT, April 2018]
Near-lateral view of a Blue-faced Honeyeater
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Darwin, NT, April 2018]
Lateral portrait of a Blue-faced Honeyeater
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Darwin, NT, April 2018]
Lateral view of a Blue-faced Honeyeater
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Darwin, NT, April 2018]
Lateral view of a Blue-faced Honeyeater
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lee Point, Darwin, NT, June 2023]
Family clan of Blue-faced Honeyeaters preening
(photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Normanton, QLD, September 2019]
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IMMATURE/JUVENILE |
Close-up near-lateral view of an immature Blue-faced Honeyeater;
note how the facial skin is starting to turn blue
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nakara, Darwin, NT, April 2023]
Close-up lateral view of an immature Blue-faced Honeyeater
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nakara, Darwin, NT, April 2023]
Partly obscured lateral view of a juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater
- note the olive-grey facial skin (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Marlow Lagoon, Palmerston, NT, February 2019]
Lateral view of a soaking wet juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Palmerston Golf Course, Palmerston, NT, December 2019]
Lateral view of a juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater taking nectar
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Marlow Lagoon, Palmerston, NT, February 2019]
Near-dorsal view of a juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater
prying loose paperbark (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Marlow Lagoon, Palmerston, NT, February 2019]
Near-dorsal view of a juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Marlow Lagoon, Palmerston, NT, February 2019]
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Breeding information |
Breeding season: Jul - Jan | Eggs: 2 - 3 | Incubation period: ca. 17 days | Fledging age: 20-22 days |
Blue-faced Honeyeaters are known as prolific breeders, with up to several broods per season. Photos below show that we have seen a pair breeding through the winter in northern inland NSW (at Narrabri in May 2012). We witnessed another attempt at Eulah Creek in May 2013.
Blue-faced Honeyeaters do not always bother with building a nest, but sometimes take over abandoned nests or even nests that are in use or have just been completed (see photos below). The most frequent victims of such "misappropriations" are Grey-crowned Babblers.
Blue-faced Honeyeaters live in family clans and employ the services of previous broods to help feed the newest clutch in the nest. One can often see birds in sub-adult plumage feeding young in the nest.
Juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater feeding a fledgling
[Eulah Creek, NSW, May 2020]
Juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater helping to feed a chick - only
it isn't quite a sibling, but a juvenile Australian Koel instead
(photo courtesy of N. Maclean)
[Noosaville, QLD, June 2016]
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Nest |
"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal] |
Type: Basket | Material: Twigs, grass, fibre | Height above ground: 3 - 20 m |
Blue-faced Honeyeaters can build their own nest, but if the chance presents itself they will also pinch other species' nests, be they active (in use) or abandoned.
Sole Blue-faced Honeyeater chick in its nest, a day after its
younger sibling had died, and 6 days before fledging, on day 22
(photo courtesy of L. Duckworth)
[Gurranang, NSW, November 2021]
View from above onto 2 chicks inside a Blue-faced Honeyeater nest
(photo courtesy of L. Duckworth)
[Gurranang, NSW, November 2021]
View from above onto 2 chicks inside a Blue-faced Honeyeater nest
(photo courtesy of L. Duckworth)
[Gurranang, NSW, November 2021]
View from above onto 2 hatchling inside a Blue-faced Honeyeater nest
(photo courtesy of L. Duckworth)
[Gurranang, NSW, October 2021]
Relatively unobstructed view of a Blue-faced Honeyeater pair's
nest; note how, similar to other honeyaters in hanging basket-type
nests, the bird's tail sticks out almost vertically
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, December 2011]
The same Blue-faced Honeyeater nest was re-used in winter, when
its lining was visibly improved
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, May 2012]
One of the Blue-faced Honeyeater parents feeding the greedy chicks
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, May 2012]
Evidence of a juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater, from the previous
(summer) brood, helping feeding the chicks
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, May 2012]
Blue-faced Honeyeater near its rather bulky nest in an
eucalypt
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, October 2015]
Blue-faced Honeyeaters collecting nesting material
[Eulah Creek, NSW, November 2021]
Blue-faced Honeyeater pinching the nest of a clan of
Grey-crowned
Babblers (photo courtesy of R. Russell)
[Mount Molloy, QLD, June 2008]
Blue-faced Honeyeaters occasionally pinch the nests of
Grey-crowned Babblers;
here the builder of the nest is looking on helplessly as
the competition moves in uninvited
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, July 2017]
Blue-faced Honeyeaters building their own nest into the side
of an abandoned stick nest, probably of either an
Australian Magpie
or a Torresian Crow
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Jardine River, Cape York peninsula, QLD, August 2019]
Blue-faced Honeyeater nest found when pruning an ornamental palm
(photo courtesy of K. Ohlsen)
[Acacia Hills, NT, July 2020]
Blue-faced Honeyeater nest with two chicks (and roof insulation
material from a house) in it
(photo courtesy of K. Ohlsen)
[Acacia Hills, NT, July 2020]
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Eggs |
"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay] |
Size: 32 x 21 mm | Colour: Creamy, with brown speckles | Shape: Tapered oval |
2 eggs inside a Blue-faced Honeyeater nest
(photo courtesy of L. Duckworth)
[Gurranang, NSW, August 2021]
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Behaviour |
Social behaviour: Territorial | Mobility: Dispersive | Elementary unit: Family clan |
One can set the clock by the regular habits of Blue-faced Honeyeaters around our place. They appear almost all year round, around sunrise and sunset. Only when there are lots of flowers on our trees they will also come at other times of the day. They visit as pairs or families, rarely alone.
It is possible that Blue-faced Honeyeaters have received their popular name of "Pandanas-bird" because they like to collect the strong, flexible fibres of various types of palms as nest material.
Blue-faced Honeyeaters are omnivores - they use their long sticky tongues not only for retrieving honey or nectar from blossoms, but also to catch small insects, for example from cracks and cavities in walls of buildings or the bark of trees.
Blue-faced Honeyeater searching the bark of a
eucalypt
for insects
[Eulah Creek, NSW, August 2010]
Blue-faced Honeyeaters can have more than one brood per season;
sometimes one can see whole family clans on the move, usually with
quite a racket (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Highland Park, Gold Coast, QLD, September 2012]
"I trip him, you whack the serial pest over the head!"
Two Blue-faced Honeyeaters gaining the upper hand against a pesky
Noisy Friarbird
that was trying to claim a
bottlebrush
for itself (note the foothold)
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2013]
Although two Blue-faced Honeyeaters can overpower a
Noisy Friarbird
(above) these two surrendered a food source to a single
Rainbow Lorikeet
(photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Ashmore, Gold Coast, QLD, January 2021]
Although two Blue-faced Honeyeaters can overpower a
Noisy Friarbird
(above) these two surrendered a food source to a single
Rainbow Lorikeet
(photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Ashmore, Gold Coast, QLD, January 2021]
Blue-faced Honeyeater basking in the sun
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2022]
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Food, Diet |
Like many other honeyeaters, Blue-faced Honeyeaters do not exclusively feed on nectar, but use their sticky tongue to take insects too. They are the species that most conspicuously uses its long, rough tongue to pry insects out of crevices. In particular, they search for insects behind the loose ends of bark strips coming off the trunks of various types of eucalypt trees.
Close-up lateral portrait of a Blue-faced Honeyeater feasting in a
Callistemon
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2022]
Blue-faced Honeyeater taking nectar from a
Grevillea flower
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[St. Albans, NSW, January 2019]
Blue-faced Honeyeater taking nectar from a Grevillea flower
(photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Highland Park, Gold Coast, QLD, August 2012]
This Blue-faced Honeyeater still has
pollensticking to its feathers, possibly from a
Grevillea flower
(photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Highland Park, Gold Coast, QLD, July 2013]
Blue-faced Honeyeater taking nectar from
mistletoe
[Near Mungindi, NSW, June 2013]
Blue-faced Honeyeaters feeding on nectar from a lemon-scented
eucalypt
(Eucalyptus citriodora)
[Eulah Creek, NSW, May 2014]
Family clan of Blue-faced Honeyeaters feeding on nectar
(photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Normanton, QLD, September 2019]
Close-up near-dorsal/ventral view of a Blue-faced Honeyeater
taking a spider
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lee Point, Darwin, NT, June 2023]
Blue-faced Honeyeater with its prey, a spider
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Cooloola NP, QLD, January 2019]
Juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater using its sticky tongue to lick sap from
a eucalypt tree
(photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Highland Park, Gold Coast, QLD, September 2013]
Juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater with something edible
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Yamba, NSW, January 2021]
Adult Blue-faced Honeyeater teaching one of its offspring how to pry
behind loose eucalypt
bark in search of insects; by sitting on the ends of such slabs the birds
brought down some which were then inspected on the ground before the
crevice left behind on the trunk was also searched for food
[Eulah Creek, NSW, August 2011]
Blue-faced Honeyeater taking nectar from a Strelitzia flower
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2013]
Juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater with its prey, a caterpillar (photo
courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Ashmore, Gold Coast, QLD, March 2015]
Blue-faced Honeyeater eating from an apple
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Moggill Regional Park, near Anstead, QLD, May 2019]
Blue-faced Honeyeater taking water from a leaking pipe
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2019]
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Call(s)/Song |
For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The
interpretation of their meaning is our own;
comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.
blufhon_20140910.mp3 |
cyanotis (NW NSW) |
Contact call | © MD | |
blufhon_20140910_3.mp3 |
cyanotis (NW NSW) |
Contact calls | © MD | |
blufhon_20141204.mp3 |
cyanotis (NW NSW) |
Contact calls (juvenile) | © MD | |
blufhon_20140201.mp3 |
cyanotis (NW NSW) |
Pair Q&A | © MD | |
blufhon_20140201_2.mp3 |
cyanotis (NW NSW) |
Pair Q&A | © MD | |
blufhon_vc_20200924.m4a |
cyanotis (NW NSW) |
Territorial calls? (break of dawn) | © VC | |
blufhon_20170912_2.m4a |
cyanotis (NW NSW) |
Warning/departure (family clan) | © MD | |
blufhon_20200302.m4a |
cyanotis (NW NSW) |
Alarm calls (goanna; with Singing Honeyeater) | © MD | |
blufhon_20170912.m4a |
cyanotis (NW NSW) |
Defending food source (family clan) | © MD | |
noifriar_20170912.m4a |
cyanotis (NW NSW) |
Fighting over food source (with Noisy Friarbird) | © MD | |
redwatt_20140508_3.mp3 |
cyanotis (NW NSW) |
Fighting (with Red Wattlebird) | © MD | |
blufhon_20150114_1.mp3 |
cyanotis (NW NSW) |
Fighting (with Little Friarbird) | © MD | |
blufhon_20150221.mp3 |
cyanotis (NW NSW) |
Upset (with Noisy Miners) | © MD | |
blufhon_ld_20211112.m4a |
cyanotis (NE NSW) |
Begging calls (nestling) | © LD | |
blufhon_20140408.mp3 |
cyanotis (NW NSW) |
Various | © MD | |
blufhon_pb_20200527.m4a |
albipennis (Darwin, NT) |
Territorial calls? (break of dawn; +Brown Honeyeater) | © PB | |
blufhon_pb_20200518.m4a |
albipennis (Darwin, NT) |
Territorial calls? (break of dawn) | © PB |
More Blue-faced Honeyeater sound recordings are available at
xeno-canto.org
.