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Grey-headed Honeyeater (Lichenostomus keartlandi) Alternate name(s): "Keartland's Honeyeater" Size: 15-16 cm Weight: 12-18 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 Lewin's Honeyeater Yellow-faced Honeyeater Graceful Honeyeater Bridled Honeyeater Singing Honeyeater Mangrove Honeyeater Varied Honeyeater White-lined Honeyeater White-gaped Honeyeater White-eared Honeyeater Yellow 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 Brown Honeyeater Bar-breasted Honeyeater Brown-backed Honeyeater Rufous-throated Honeyeater Grey Honeyeater Tawny-crowned Honeyeater Rufous-banded 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 Olive-backed Sunbird Gibberbird Crimson Chat Orange 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-headed Honeyeaters are small nectar-eating birds. They have a yellowish throat which connects to a yellow plume around the ear coverts. The top of the head is grey, with darker grey patches around the eyes and on the ear coverts. At the lower edge of the ear coverts, just above the yellow plume, there is a thin black plume. The rest of the front is pale-yellow, turning to greyish yellow towards belly and vent. The back is greyish-olive, with greyish-brown flight feathers with olive-green leading edges. The rump is dark-grey; the tail is grey with some olive-green. The irises are dark-brown. The slightly down-curved bill is black, while the legs and feet are grey. Juveniles have duller colours.

Taxonomy, classification See Grey-headed 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 based on sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Grey-headed Honeyeater is available HERE . Grey-headed Honeyeaters are endemic to Australia. They are found only in the northern half of the continent, with a northern boundary of their range from the Pilbara coast in WA to the South coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria in QLD. In the interior, towards the South, their distribution extends from roughly the Gascoyne River in WA to the WA/SA/NT tri-state border, South of Alice Springs, NT, and into far western QLD. Note that this area includes parts of the great sandy deserts of inland WA. Grey-headed Honeyeaters are NOT found in the Lake Eyre Basin, South of Mt. Isa, QLD, but there is a separate population in the south-western corner of QLD, along the upper Paroo River. Grey-headed Honeyeaters have a preference for mulga scrub and woodland, but they are also found regularly in gorges and along rocky hillsides.

Sightings Click here for sighting information B. Hensen reports spotting a pair of Grey-headed Honeyeaters at Bowra Station, QLD, in October 2012. J. Greaves reports spotting Grey-headed Honeyeaters at the Granites Gold Mine, inland NT, in June 2015. B. Hensen found a Grey-headed Honeyeater in the township of Alice Springs, NT, in July 2018.

Photos

ADULT

Frontal view of a Grey-headed Honeyeater foraging for insects in rough bark; note the characteristic grey ear coverts and crown (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[The Granites Gold Mine, inland NT, June 2015]

Lateral view of a Grey-headed Honeyeater (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Alice Springs, NT, July 2018]

Lateral view of a Grey-headed Honeyeater foraging for insects in rough bark (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[The Granites Gold Mine, inland NT, June 2015]

Different lateral view of a Grey-headed Honeyeater foraging for insects in rough bark (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[The Granites Gold Mine, inland NT, June 2015]

Family of Grey-headed Honeyeaters (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[The Granites Gold Mine, inland NT, June 2015]

Pair of Grey-headed Honeyeaters (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Bowra Station, QLD, October 2012]

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