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White-gaped Honeyeater (Lichenostomus unicolor) Alternate name(s): "River Honeyeater", "Erect-tailed Honeyeater" Size: 18-22 cm Body mass: 25-36 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

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description White-gaped Honeyeaters are medium-sized nectar-eating birds. They are almost all-grey, with only two exceptions: Their gape is whitish and the flight feathers are dark brownish-grey, with an olive-green leading edge. Everything else is grey. The irises are light-grey; the slightly down-curved bill is dark-grey. Some specimens have an olive-green tinge throughout their plumage (its visibility may depend on light conditions). Juvenile White-gaped Honeyeaters have a yellow gape.

Taxonomy, classification See White-gaped 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, 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 White-gaped Honeyeater is available HERE . White-gaped Honeyeaters are endemic to the tropical North of Australia. They occur from the entire Kimberley in WA through the Top End of the NT, past the South coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, through most of Cape York peninsula (except some parts along the East coast), down to about Townsville, QLD. Along the major rivers flowing into the Gulf of Carpentaria they are found farther upstream, to the latitude of about Mt. Isa, QLD. White-gaped Honeyeaters have a preference for mangroves and dense riparian forest. They are also found in gardens.

Sightings Click here for sighting information White-gaped Honeyeaters have been found by us in various locations in and around Darwin, NT, in August 2014. Several contributors have also reported White-gaped Honeyeaters from the same area, where they are found regularly. J. Greaves reports spotting White-gaped Honeyeaters at Ivanhoe Crossing, Kununurra, WA, in January 2016, and at Pirlangimbi, Melville Island, off Darwin, NT, in November 2016. M. Mearns reports spotting White-gaped Honeyeaters at Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) NP, far-western QLD, on various occasions, ranging from 2007 to 2019. J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours found the species there again in December 2020. This location is on the southern edge of the species' range. M. Eaton reports finding a White-gaped Honeyeater at the Musgrave Roadhouse, Cape York peninsula, QLD, in August 2019. C. Pears spotted a White-gaped Honeyeater at Cable Beach, Broome, WA, in June 2025. Others were found at the same location in June 2026.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of an adult White-gaped Honeyeater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[East Point, Darwin, NT, July 2020]

Frontal view of a White-gaped Honeyeater looking sideways (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, March 2013]

Near-frontal view of a White-gaped Honeyeater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Buffalo Creek, Darwin, NT, August 2020]

Near-frontal/ventral view of a White-gaped Honeyeater in mellow light
[Darwin, NT, August 2014]

Near-lateral view of a White-gaped Honeyeater looking backwards (photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Adels Grove, near Boodjamulla NP, QLD, December 2020]

Near-lateral view of a White-gaped Honeyeater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Buffalo Creek, Darwin, NT, August 2020]

Lateral view of a White-gaped Honeyeater
[Darwin, NT, August 2014]

Lateral view onto the upperparts of a White-gaped Honeyeater
[Darwin, NT, August 2014]

Lateral/ventral view of a White-gaped Honeyeater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[East Point, Darwin, NT, July 2020]

Lateral/ventral view of a White-gaped Honeyeater (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Jingili Water Gardens, Darwin, NT, March 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a White-gaped Honeyeater (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Jingili Water Gardens, Darwin, NT, March 2018]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of a juvenile White-gaped Honeyeater looking sideways (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nakara, Darwin, NT, March 2023]

Near-lateral view of a juvenile White-gaped Honeyeater (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nakara, Darwin, NT, March 2020]

Lateral view of a juvenile White-gaped Honeyeater; note the yellow gape (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) NP, QLD, June 2007]

Lateral view of a juvenile White-gaped Honeyeater
[Darwin, NT, August 2014]

Ventral view of a juvenile White-gaped Honeyeater (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Pirlangimbi, Melville Island, off Darwin, NT, November 2016]

Ventral view of two juvenile White-gaped Honeyeaters (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Ivanhoe Crossing, Kununurra, WA, January 2016]

Lateral view of a fledgling White-gaped Honeyeater (photo courtesy of K. Ohlsen)
[Acacia Hills, NT, August 2017]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Dispersive

Elementary unit: Solitary/pair

Food, Diet

White-gaped Honeyeater taking nectar (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Jingili Water Gardens, Darwin, NT, March 2018]

White-gaped Honeyeater taking a juicy grub (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Pirlangimbi, Melville Island, off Darwin, NT, November 2016]

White-gaped Honeyeater probing an open casuarina cone and coming up trumps with a small grub
[Darwin, NT, August 2014]

Lateral view of a juvenile White-gaped Honeyeater reaching head down to take a small spider
[Darwin, NT, August 2014]

Apart from nectar, insects and spiders, White-gaped Honeyeaters also take fruit (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Coomalie Creek, 90 km south of Darwin, NT, June 2018]

Ventral view of a White-gaped Honeyeater with what looks like the flesh of some fruit (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Darwin, NT, July 2018]

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.

wgaphon_20140818.m4a	(Darwin, NT)	Contact call	© MD
wgaphon_20140819.m4a	(Darwin, NT)	Contact call	© MD
wgaphon_20140816.m4a	(Darwin, NT)	Contact calls	© MD
wgaphon_20140816_4.m4a	(Darwin, NT)	Contact calls Q&A	© MD
wgaphon_20140816_2.m4a	(Darwin, NT)	Territorial calls	© MD
wgaphon_20140820.m4a	(Darwin, NT)	Territorial calls?	© MD
wgaphon_pb_20200411.m4a	(Top End, NT)	Territorial calls?	© PB
wgaphon_pb_20191023.m4a	(Top End, NT)	Territorial calls Q&A?	© PB
wgaphon_cp_20260613_2.m4a	(Darwin, NT)	Various	© CP
wgaphon_cp_20260613.m4a	(Darwin, NT)	Various	© CP
wgaphon_pb_20200330.m4a	(Darwin, NT)	Begging calls (juveniles)	© PB
wgaphon_pb_20180619.m4a	(Top End, NT)	?	© PB

More White-gaped 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.