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18

White-fronted Honeyeater (Purnella [Phylidonyris] albifrons) Aboriginal name(s): "koolbekolbon" (WA) Size: 16-18 cm Weight: 15-23 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 Eungella 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 Yellow 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 White-fronted Honeyeaters are small nectar-eating birds. Their name relates to their rather inconspicuous white frons (forehead) and eye-rings, with one small red spot behind each eye. The rest of the front, i.e. throat and breast, is black, while the belly is partly white with black streaks, further down white. The crown and back are dark-grey with lighter streaks; the rump is brownish. The flight feathers and the outer tail feathers have bright-yellow edges. This gives the folded wings a bright yellow spot when perched. The irises are dark. The long, slightly down-curved bill is black. The legs and feet are grey. Juveniles have more brownish colours.

Taxonomy, classification See White-fronted 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-fronted Honeyeater is available HERE . NB: Reports on ebird of birds submitted by birdwatchers from the Australian Outback tend to be clustered along roads and public areas such as camp grounds; in such cases their distribution is not a good representation of the overall distribution of the species. White-fronted Honeyeaters are endemic to the Australian continent. They are found in the dry interior, with a range extending from most of WA (except the south-western corner, the Gascoyne and the Kimberley) into most of the southern half of the NT and most of SA into far-western NSW. They only rarely extend their range into the Lake Eyre Basin, the south-western corner of QLD and/or further East into NSW. They are not found anywhere else. White-fronted Honeyeaters have a preference for arid shrubland, scrubland and woodland.

Sightings Click here for sighting information We have first seen a White-fronted Honeyeater at Gundabooka NP, 50 km South of Bourke, NSW, in September 2012. Under the guidance of NPWS ranger M. Murphy, two White-fronted Honeyeaters were spotted at the Gilgais, Pilliga NP, in August 2013. M. Mackay reports that White-fronted Honeyeaters are found regularly in gardens in the township of Coober Pedy, SA. R. Plumtreereports finding a White-fronted Honeyeater between Berri and Renmark, SA, another near Pinnaroo, SA, in September 2018, and a third near Hopetoun, VIC, in October 2019. M. Eaton reports spotting a White-fronted Honeyeater at Sandy Camp Road Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, in February 2020. This location is nearly 1000 km outside the species' normal range. M. Eaton also found a White-fronted Honeyeater at the Arid Lands Botanical Garden, Port Augusta, SA, in June 2022.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a White-fronted Honeyeater
[Sandy Camp Road Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, February 2020]

Near-frontal view of a White-fronted Honeyeater in a flowering eucalypt
[Gundabooka NP, NSW, September 2012]

Near-lateral view of a White-fronted Honeyeater
[Gundabooka NP, NSW, September 2012]

Lateral view of a White-fronted Honeyeater (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Near Hopetoun, VIC, October 2017]

Lateral view of a White-fronted Honeyeater issuing its call (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Near Hopetoun, VIC, October 2017]

Lateral view of a White-fronted Honeyeater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Road Wetlands, Brisbane, QLD, February 2020]

Lateral view of a White-fronted Honeyeater low in a shrub
[Gundabooka NP, NSW, September 2012]

Near-dorsal view of a White-fronted Honeyeater (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Near Hopetoun, VIC, October 2017]

White-fronted Honeyeater carrying what appears to be lining material for its nest (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Near Hopetoun, VIC, October 2017]

Food, Diet

White-fronted Honeyeater in a flowering eucalypt tree (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)
[Pilliga NP, NSW, September 2013]

White-fronted Honeyeater seen taking nectar from a eucalypt tree (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)
[Pilliga NP, NSW, September 2013]

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.

whtfhon_mm_20161217.m4a

(Ctl SA)

Warning calls (cat)

© MM

More White-fronted 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.

Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Wed, 22 June 2022, 21:53 +00:00