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18

Rufous-banded Honeyeater

(Conopophila albogularis)
Alternate name(s): "White-throated Honeyeater", "Rufous-breasted Honeyeater"
Size: 12-13 cm
Weight: 10-14 g
Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description

Click here for a physical description

Taxonomy, classification

See Rufous-banded Honeyeater at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species

Click here for information on habitat and range

Sightings

Click here for sighting information

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Rufous-banded Honeyeater; note the white throat giving the species its name of "albogularis"
[Pine Creek, NT, August 2014]

Frontal view of a Rufous-banded Honeyeater, different posture (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Sanctuary Lakes Park, Palmerston, NT, March 2018]

Frontal/ventral view of a Rufous-banded Honeyeater (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Sanctuary Lakes Park, Palmerston, NT, March 2018]

Partly obscured frontal/ventral view of a Rufous-banded Honeyeater (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Sanctuary Lakes Park, Palmerston, NT, February 2018]

Near-frontal/ventral view of a Rufous-banded Honeyeater (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Darwin, NT, May 2018]

Near-lateral/ventral view of a Rufous-banded Honeyeater (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Sanctuary Lakes Park, Palmerston, NT, March 2018]

Lateral view of a Rufous-banded Honeyeater (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, March 2013]

Lateral/ventral view of a Rufous-banded Honeyeater
[Pine Creek, NT, August 2014]

Lateral/ventral view of a Rufous-banded Honeyeater, checking the underside of the foliage for psyllids or lerps
[Pine Creek, NT, August 2014]

Near-dorsal view of a Rufous-banded Honeyeater (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Leanyer Swamp, Darwin, NT, October 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a Rufous-banded Honeyeater, here seen preening (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Leanyer Swamp, Darwin, NT, October 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a Rufous-banded Honeyeater (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, October 2020]

Ventral view of a Rufous-banded Honeyeater
[Pine Creek, NT, August 2014]

Ventral view of a Rufous-banded Honeyeater hanging upside down, looking for psyllids or lerps
[Pine Creek, NT, August 2014]

Ventral view of a Rufous-banded Honeyeater hanging upside down, looking for psyllids or lerps
[Pine Creek, NT, August 2014]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of a juvenile Rufous-banded Honeyeater; note the pale gape and the inconspicuous breast band
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kakadu NP, NT, July 2020]

Near-lateral view of a juvenile Rufous-banded Honeyeater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kakadu NP, NT, July 2020]

Lateral view of a juvenile Rufous-banded Honeyeater; note the pale gape and the inconspicuous breast band
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Tiwi Park, Darwin, NT, June 2018]

Lateral view of a juvenile Rufous-banded Honeyeater (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Tiwi Park, Darwin, NT, June 2018]

Lateral view of a juvenile Rufous-banded Honeyeater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mary River Wilderness Retreat, NT, July 2020]

Adult, left, with a dependent juvenile Rufous-banded Honeyeater (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nakara, Darwin, NT, March 2020]

Lateral view of a dependent juvenile Rufous-banded Honeyeater exploring what is, and what isn't, edible; this is one of the two birds whose calls were recorded on 3 March 2020 (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nakara, Darwin, NT, March 2020]

Near-dorsal view of a dependent juvenile Rufous-banded Honeyeater; this is one of the two birds whose calls were recorded on 3 March 2020 (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nakara, Darwin, NT, March 2020]

Near-dorsal view of a dependent juvenile Rufous-banded Honeyeater; this is one of the two birds whose calls were recorded on 3 March 2020 (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nakara, Darwin, NT, March 2020]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Sep - Mar Eggs: 2 - 3 Incubation period: 12 days Fledging age: 11-13 days

Given the right conditions, Rufous-banded Honeyeaters can breed almost any time of the year. The period listed in the table above is the core breeding period. They usually have two broods per season.

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Suspended basket Material: Bark fibres, plant down, webs, soft lining Height above ground: 1 - 10 m

Rufous-banded Honeyeater working on its nest (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fogg Dam CR, NT, March 2021]

Very well-hidden Rufous-banded Honeyeater nest (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[East Point Reserve, Darwin, NT, April 2020]

Rufous-banded Honeyeater at its nest, which is suspended from the outermost twigs at the end of a thin branch; note how, characteristically, one side is much higher than the other (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nightcliff, Darwin, NT, November 2020]

Rufous-banded Honeyeater delivering food for its chicks, which are still so small that the adult bird must reach far down into the nest (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nightcliff, Darwin, NT, November 2020]

Rufous-banded Honeyeater waiting for a moment after a food delivery, to see whether a poo sac needs to be removed
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nightcliff, Darwin, NT, November 2020]

Rufous-banded Honeyeater departing from its nest (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fogg Dam CR, NT, May 2018]

Rufous-banded Honeyeater nest in the crown of a tree, close to branches that can carry the weight of a predator; note the difference compared to the nest shown above, where no such weight-carrying branch is present
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fannie Bay, Darwin, NT, May 2018]

Two days later the Rufous-banded Honeyeater nest had been destroyed and the chicks had been taken
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fannie Bay, Darwin, NT, May 2018]

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 18 x 13 mm Colour: Creamy, with sparse light-brown speckles Shape: Tapered oval

Food, Diet

Lateral view of a Rufous-banded Honeyeater taking a lerp
[Pine Creek, NT, August 2014]

Ventral view of a Rufous-banded Honeyeater hanging upside down, taking a psyllid or lerp
[Pine Creek, NT, August 2014]

Rufous-banded Honeyeater with its prey, a flying insect (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fogg Dam CR, NT, May 2018]

This Rufous-banded Honeyeater has caught a caterpillar (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fogg Dam CR, NT, May 2018]

Rufous-banded Honeyeater coming in for a drink from a man-made waterhole (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Lee Point, Darwin, NT, July 2019]

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.

rufbhon_20140817.m4a (Top End, NT) Contact call? © MD
rufbhon_pb_20190107.m4a (Top End, NT) Contact calls? © PB
rufbhon_20140820.m4a (Top End, NT) Various © MD
rufbhon_pb_20200303.m4a (Top End, NT) Begging calls (juveniles) © PB

More Rufous-banded 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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If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.