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18

Painted Honeyeater

(Grantiella picta)
Size: 15.5-16 cm
Weight: 18-25 g
Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description

Click here for a physical description

Taxonomy, classification

See Painted Honeyeater at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species

Click here for information on habitat and range

Sightings

Click here for sighting information

Photos

ADULT

MALE

Full-frontal view of an adult Painted Honeyeater; the black helmet suggests that this may be a male (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Yarrie Lake, near Wee Waa, NSW, November 2018]

Frontal view of a male(?) Painted Honeyeater
[Yarrie Lake, near Wee Waa, NSW, November 2017]

Frontal view of a male(?) Painted Honeyeater (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ah Chow Road, Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, December 2017]

Male(?) Painted Honeyeater seen calling
[Yarrie Lake, near Wee Waa, NSW, November 2017]

Ventral view of a male(?) Painted Honeyeater
[Yarrie Lake, near Wee Waa, NSW, November 2017]

This view of a male(?) Painted Honeyeater shows clearly the edge lining on the wing and tail feathers
[Yarrie Lake, near Wee Waa, NSW, November 2017]

FEMALE

Frontal view of a Painted Honeyeater; the brownish upperparts may indicate that this is a female (photo courtesy of A. Allnutt)
[Lake Cargelligo, NSW, January 2019]

Near-lateral view of a female(?) Painted Honeyeater
[Yarrie Lake, near Wee Waa, NSW, November 2017]

Sex unknown

Painted Honeyeater in a casuarina tree...
[Near Narrabri, NSW, 2006]

... the same Painted Honeyeater as above, now at a somewhat private moment (note droplets below the bird...)
[Near Narrabri, NSW, 2006]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Lateral view of a juvenile Painted Honeyeater, characterised by the partly dark bill and the absence of streaking
[Near Narrabri, NSW, February 2008]

Ventral view of a juvenile Painted Honeyeater (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ah Chow Road, Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, December 2017]

View of the underbelly of a juvenile Painted Honeyeater
[Near Narrabri, NSW, February 2008]

The pinkish lores and short tail indicate that this is a fledgling Painted Honeyeater; again the bill is partly dark and there are no streaks or spots on the breast
[Near Narrabri, NSW, February 2008]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial? Mobility: Migratory/dispersive Elementary unit: Solitary/pair

Food, Diet

Painted Honeyeaters specialise on nectar from various types of mistletoe. We have seen them in mistletoe in casuarinas and eucalypts.

There is a separate page describing how a Painted Honeyeater peels a mistletoe fruit.

Immature Painted Honeyeater feeding on the nectar of needle-leaf mistletoe blossoms in a casuarina tree
[Near Narrabri, NSW, February 2008]

Where there is good food, fair numbers of Painted Honeyeater can appear (in this case round about 20, 3 of which are seen here in a dead treetop)
[Yarrie Lake, near Wee Waa, NSW, October 2013]

Painted Honeyeaters' favourite food - nectar from the flowers of a casuarina, with flowering mistletoe
[Near Narrabri, NSW, February 2008]

Painted Honeyeaters' favourite food - nectar from the flowers of a casuarina, with flowering mistletoe
[Near Narrabri, NSW, February 2008]

This Painted Honeyeater was observed feeding on the fruit of mistletoe in a casuarina; the technique it used is described HERE
[Yarrie Lake, near Wee Waa, NSW, November 2017]

Painted Honeyeater feeding on the fruit of mistletoe in a casuarina; the technique it used is described HERE
[Yarrie Lake, near Wee Waa, NSW, November 2017]

Painted Honeyeater holding a peeled mistletoe fruit
[Yarrie Lake, near Wee Waa, NSW, November 2017]

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.

painted_20171027_8.m4a (NW NSW) Contact call? (Peaceful Dove in bkgd) © MD
painted_20171027_10.m4a (NW NSW) Abbreviated contact call? © MD
painted_20171027_1.m4a (NW NSW) Claiming/defending food source? © MD
painted_20171027_9.m4a (NW NSW) Claiming/defending food source? © MD
painted_20171027_4.m4a (NW NSW) Claiming/defending food source? © MD
painted_20171027_5.m4a (NW NSW) Claiming/defending food source? (Q&A) © MD
painted_20171027_3.m4a (NW NSW) Competing with Mistletoebird © MD
painted_20171027_6.m4a (NW NSW) Competing with Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater © MD
painted_20171027_7.m4a (NW NSW) Competing with Singing Honeyeater © MD
painted_20171027_2.m4a (NW NSW) Various © MD
painted_20171115_2.m4a (NW NSW) ? © MD
painted_20140911.mp3 (NW NSW) ? © MD
painted_20140911_8.mp3 (NW NSW) ? © MD
painted_20140911_3.mp3 (NW NSW) ? © MD

More Painted 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.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site?
If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.