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Graceful Honeyeater (Meliphaga gracilis) Alternate name(s): "Little Yellow-spotted Honey-eater", "Grey-breasted Honeyeater" Size: 14-17 cm Body mass: 13-18 g

Australia: Family Group 18 Family Group 18 Table Yellow Wattlebird Red Wattlebird Little Wattlebird Western Wattlebird Regent Honeyeater Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater Striped Honeyeater Helmeted Friarbird Silver-crowned Friarbird Noisy Friarbird Little Friarbird Blue-faced Honeyeater Bell Miner Yellow-throated Miner Noisy Miner Macleay's Honeyeater Tawny-breasted Honeyeater Yellow-spotted Honeyeater Graceful Honeyeater Lewin's Honeyeater Yellow-faced Honeyeater Bridled Honeyeater Eungella Honeyeater Singing Honeyeater Mangrove Honeyeater Varied Honeyeater White-lined Honeyeater Kimberley Honeyeater White-gaped Honeyeater Yellow Honeyeater White-eared Honeyeater Yellow-throated Honeyeater Yellow-tufted Honeyeater Purple-gaped Honeyeater Grey-headed Honeyeater Yellow-plumed Honeyeater Grey-fronted Honeyeater Fuscous Honeyeater Yellow-tinted Honeyeater White-plumed Honeyeater Green-backed Honeyeater Brown Honeyeater Bar-breasted Honeyeater Brown-backed Honeyeater Rufous-throated Honeyeater Grey Honeyeater Tawny-crowned Honeyeater Rufous-banded Honeyeater White-streaked Honeyeater New Holland Honeyeater White-cheeked Honeyeater Crescent Honeyeater White-fronted Honeyeater Painted Honeyeater Black-chinned Honeyeater White-throated Honeyeater Strong-billed Honeyeater White-naped Honeyeater Brown-headed Honeyeater Black-headed Honeyeater Eastern Spinebill Western Spinebill Banded Honeyeater Black Honeyeater Pied Honeyeater Scarlet Honeyeater Red-headed Honeyeater Dusky Honeyeater Garden Sunbird Gibberbird Crimson Chat Orange Chat Yellow Chat White-fronted Chat Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Graceful Honeyeaters are small nectar-eating birds. Their head is brownish-grey, with a roundish pale-yellow patch on the ear coverts. They have a yellowish gape. The front is light greyish-brown, the back darker grey-brown. The primaries and the outer tail feathers have olive-green edges. The irises are brown. The down-curved bill is dark-grey, while legs and feet are grey. Twitcher's tip Compared with Yellow-spotted Honeyeaters, Graceful Honeyeaters are both smaller and lighter of colour. Compared with Lewin's Honeyeaters, they are noticeably smaller and have a more rounded, smaller yellow patch on their ear coverts, while the rest of the head is lighter. However, the distinction between Graceful Honeyeater and Yellow-spotted Honeyeater is sufficiently difficult that, from the photo below, a professional ornithologist identified it as Graceful, while 3 other experienced birdwatchers labeled it a Yellow-spotted Honeyeater.

Taxonomy, classification See Graceful Honeyeater at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range 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 Graceful Honeyeater is available HERE . Graceful Honeyeaters are found in New Guinea and north-eastern Australia. There are two races of Graceful Honeyeaters, of which race "imitatrix" is endemic to Australia. Nominate race "gracilis" populates the tip of Cape York peninsula and the East coast of QLD, down to about Cooktown, QLD. South of Julatten, the range of race "imitatrix" extends to about the estuary of the Burdekin River, QLD. Graceful Honeyeaters have a preference for wet forest.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "gracilis" M. Eaton reports finding a Graceful Honeyeater, race "gracilis", at Chili Beach, Cape York peninsula, QLD, in August 2019. Race "imitatrix" B. Hensen reports spotting a Graceful Honeyeater, race "imitatrix", at Julatten, QLD, in July 2013. R. Russell spotted a Graceful Honeyeater, race "imitatrix", at Mount Molloy, QLD, in June 2015. M. Eaton found Graceful Honeyeaters, race "imitatrix", at Julatten, QLD, in July 2018 and again in October 2024. Another was found at Paluma Rainforest, near Townsville, QLD, in September 2020.

Photos

Race "gracilis"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Graceful Honeyeater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Chili Beach, Cape York peninsula, QLD, August 2019]

Race "imitatrix"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Graceful Honeyeater looking sideways (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Julatten, QLD, July 2013]

Near-frontal view of a Graceful Honeyeater (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Julatten, QLD, July 2013]

Near-lateral view of a Graceful Honeyeater just out of the bathtub (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kingfisher Lodge, Julatten, QLD, October 2024]

Near-lateral/ventral view of a Graceful Honeyeater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kingfisher Lodge, Julatten, QLD, October 2024]

Lateral view of a Graceful Honeyeater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Julatten, QLD, July 2018]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Dispersive

Elementary unit: Solitary/pair

Food, Diet

Honeyeaters of the genus Meliphaga are known to pierce the skin/peel of large fruit to get inside.

Graceful Honeyeater taking nectar from a Grevillea (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Chili Beach, Cape York peninsula, QLD, August 2019]

Graceful Honeyeater at a pierced large fruit (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Julatten, QLD, July 2018]

Graceful Honeyeater taking the flesh of a fruit (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Julatten, QLD, July 2018]

Lateral view of a Graceful Honeyeater scavenging food (photo courtesy of R. Russell)
[Mount Molloy, QLD, June 2015]

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.

grachon_me_20240613.m4a	gracilis (Cape York pen.)	Contact call?	© ME
grachon_me_20240616.m4a	gracilis (Cape York pen.)	Contact call?	© ME

More Graceful Honeyeater sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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