18

Varied Honeyeaters are medium-sized nectar-eating birds. Their most prominent feature are conspicuous black eye stripes above a yellow throat and a white patch unter the ear coverts. The front is yellow from throat to belly, with some brown streaking on breast and belly. The vent and undertail coverts are pale-yellow. The back is brownish-grey; only the flight feathers have yellowish-olive leading edges. The tail is grey. The irises are dark-brown. The slightly down-curved bill is dark-grey, while the legs and feet are grey.

Twitcher's tip

Compared with both Mangrove Honeyeaters and Singing Honeyeaters, Varied Honeyeaters show much more yellow down their front.

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).

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 Varied Honeyeater is available HERE .

The range of Varied Honeyeaters extends from West Papua (Indonesia) via New Guinea to north-eastern Australia.

In Australia, the range of Varied Honeyeaters is limited to a narrow coastal fringe along the Australian North-East coast, from about Townsville, QLD, to the tip of Cape York. At the southern end of their distribution Varied Honeyeaters can hybridize with Mangrove Honeyeaters.

Varied Honeyeaters have a preference for mangroves.

B. Hensen reports spotting Varied Honeyeaters in Cairns, QLD, in June 2013 and again in December 2018.

M. Eaton found Varied Honeyeaters in Cairns, QLD, in July 2018.

J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours reports having found Varied Honeyeaters at the Esplanade, Cairns, QLD, on several occasions.