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Grey-fronted Honeyeater (Ptilotula plumula) Alternate name(s): "Yellow-fronted Honeyeater" Aboriginal name(s): Race "plumulus": "bildjart" (SW WA) Size: 15-17 cm Body mass: 13-21 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 Grey-fronted Honeyeaters are small nectar-eating birds. Their front, from throat to undertail coverts, is light-grey, with some darker grey streaking on the chest. The crown is olive-grey, the gape darker grey. The ear coverts are also olive-grey, with a thin black and a very wide bright-yellow plume at the end. The back is grey, with olive-brown leading edges on the flight feathers. The irises are dark. The slightly down-curved bill is black, while the legs and feet are grey. Juveniles have a yellow gape and base of the lower mandible.

Taxonomy, classification See Grey-fronted Honeyeater at Wikipedia . Click here for classification information The classification of Australian honeyeater species, mainly in the genus "Lichenostomus", has undergone a major revision, with many species now moved into several newly defined genera (Gavicalis, Stomiopera, Ptilotula, Nesoptilotis).

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 Grey-fronted Honeyeater is available HERE . NB: Reports on ebird of birds submitted by birdwatchers from the Australian Outback tend to be clustered along roads and public areas such as camp grounds; in such cases their distribution is not a good representation of the overall distribution of the species. Grey-fronted Honeyeaters are endemic to Australia. The three races of Grey-fronted Honeyeaters have a range that may be considered the strangest of all bird species in Australia (for details see a field guide). If one takes an about 1200 km diameter near-circular exclusion zone around the centre of the Lake Eyre Basin, Grey-fronted Honeyeaters are found in an annular area around that zone with a width of a few hundred km. Their range thus includes Alice Springs (NT), Coober Pedy (SA), the lower Murry Darling Basin and further West in a wide band between these two rivers (central NSW) and into central QLD, towards the southern end of the Gulf of Carpentaria. As small "additions" to this annulus their range includes the region of Mt. Isa, QLD, and the Flinders Ranges and Gammon Ranges, SA. In addition, there is an extension from the central NT to the Kimberley in WA. Another almost linear extension runs from north-western SA into southern central WA, to about Geraldton, including Kalgoorlie on its southern edge. Within that total range, nominate race "plumula" occupies the areas South of Tennant Creek, NT, and East of the Lake Eyre Basin. Race "planasi" is found in the tropical areas of the total range. Race "graingeri" occupies the areas to the South-East and East of the Lake Eyre Basin. Grey-fronted Honeyeaters can be found in open woodland, mallee and mulga-dominated scrub.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "graingeri" Grey-fronted Honeyeaters are not normally found in the area where we live, near Narrabri, NSW. We first found Grey-fronted Honeyeaters, race "graingeri", in the Gammon Ranges near Balcanoona, SA, in March 2008. D. Johnston reports spotting two Grey-fronted Honeyeaters, race "graingeri", in Timmallallie NP, near Baradine, NSW, in the 1980ies. R. Plumtree found Grey-fronted Honeyeaters, race "graingeri", near the Murray River in south-eastern SA in September 2018. Race "planasi" P. Brown found Grey-fronted Honeyeaters, race "planasi", in various locations in the interior of the NT, such as along the Victoria River, Judburra (Gregory) NP, near Timber Creek, NT, and in Keep River NP, NT, in November 2018, and Nitmiluk Gorge, near Katherine, NT, in July and September 2020. In April 2020 P. Brown also spotted Grey-fronted Honeyeaters, race "planasi", at East Point Reserve, Darwin, NT, where they are out of range. M. Eaton reports spotting a Grey-fronted Honeyeater, race "planasi", in Katherine, NT, in July 2020. They were also found in and around Mount Isa, QLD, in June 2021, and at Lake Moondarra, near Mount Isa, QLD, in June 2025.

Photos

Race "graingeri"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Near-lateral/ventral view of a Grey-fronted Honeyeater looking away from the observer
[Gammon Ranges NP, SA, March 2008]

Lateral view of a Grey-fronted Honeyeater, displaying conspicuously its black-edged yellow plume; this plume is wider than that of Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters
[Gammon Ranges NP, SA, March 2008]

Dorsal view of a Grey-fronted Honeyeater
[Gammon Ranges NP, SA, March 2008]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Near-lateral view of a juvenile Grey-fronted Honeyeater in mellow light (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Murray River, SA, September 2018]

Lateral view of a juvenile Grey-fronted Honeyeater basking in sunlight (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Murray River, SA, September 2018]

Race "planasi"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Grey-fronted Honeyeater looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Isa, QLD, June 2021]

Near-frontal view of a Grey-fronted Honeyeater looking sideways (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nitmiluk Gorge, near Katherine, NT, July 2020]

Near-lateral view of a Grey-fronted Honeyeater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Isa, QLD, June 2021]

Near-lateral view of a Grey-fronted Honeyeater looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Katherine, NT, July 2020]

Lateral view of a Grey-fronted Honeyeater looking towards the observer (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nackeroo Lookout Road, Timber Creek, NT, November 2018]

Near-lateral view of a Grey-fronted Honeyeater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Isa, QLD, June 2021]

Near-lateral/ventral view of a Grey-fronted Honeyeater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Isa, QLD, June 2021]

Lateral view of a Grey-fronted Honeyeater looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Katherine, NT, July 2020]

Lateral view of a Grey-fronted Honeyeater looking backwards, with a clear view of its grey frons (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Isa, QLD, June 2021]

Lateral view of a Grey-fronted Honeyeater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Isa, QLD, June 2021]

Lateral view of a Grey-fronted Honeyeater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Katherine, NT, July 2020]

Lateral view of a Grey-fronted Honeyeater (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nackeroo Lookout Road, Timber Creek, NT, November 2018]

Lateral view of a Grey-fronted Honeyeater (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nitmiluk Gorge, near Katherine, NT, July 2020]

Lateral/ventral view of a Grey-fronted Honeyeater (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[East Point Reserve, Darwin, NT, April 2020]

Near-dorsal view of a soaking wet Grey-fronted Honeyeater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Katherine, NT, July 2020]

Ventral view of a Grey-fronted Honeyeater (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[East Point Reserve, Darwin, NT, April 2020]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Near-lateral view of a juvenile Grey-fronted Honeyeater looking towards the observer (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nitmiluk NP, near Katherine, NT, September 2020]

Near-lateral view of a juvenile Grey-fronted Honeyeater (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nitmiluk NP, near Katherine, NT, September 2020]

Near-lateral/ventral view of a juvenile Grey-fronted Honeyeater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Isa, QLD, June 2021]

Lateral view of a juvenile Grey-fronted Honeyeater (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nitmiluk NP, near Katherine, NT, September 2020]

Lateral/ventral view of a juvenile Grey-fronted Honeyeater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Isa, QLD, June 2021]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Sedentary/dispersive

Elementary unit: Solitary/pair

Food, Diet

Adults: Nectar, insects

Dependents: Insects

Water intake: Daily

Like many other honeyeaters, Grey-fronted Honeyeaters do not exclusively feed on nectar, but take insects and spiders too.

Near-frontal view of a Grey-fronted Honeyeater looking downwards while foraging for insects
[Gammon Ranges NP, SA, March 2008]

Near-lateral view of a Grey-fronted Honeyeater taking nectar (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Keep River NP, NT, November 2018]

Near-dorsal viewo of a Grey-fronted Honeyeater taking nectar (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Keep River NP, NT, November 2018]

Lateral view of a Grey-fronted Honeyeater with a lerp (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nackeroo Lookout Road, Timber Creek, NT, November 2018]

Grey-fronted Honeyeaters foraging for insects (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nackeroo Lookout Road, Timber Creek, NT, November 2018]

Grey-fronted Honeyeaters drinking water from a bucket (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Cape Crawford to Mataranka Road, NT, July 2010]

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.

grfrhon_pb_20210317.m4a	planasi (W NT)	Various (+ Grey Shrike-thrush)	© PB
grfrhon_pb_20210317_NR.m4a	planasi (W NT)	Various (+ Grey Shrike-thrush; low freq. removed)	© PB

More Grey-fronted 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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