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Yellow-faced Honeyeater (Lichenostomus chrysops) Alternate name(s): "Chickup", "Quitchup", "Yellow-gaped Honeyeater" Size: 16-18 cm; wing span 21.5-26 cm Body mass: 13-20 g

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

Physical description Click here for a physical description Yellow-faced Honeyeaters are small nectar-eating birds. They have a grey front, while the back is darker brownish-grey. The primaries have the typical olive-green front edges common to many species of honeyeaters. The cheeks are blackish-brown, with a yellow stripe under each eye and a small yellow streak behind each eye. The irises are dark-blue, the bill is dark-grey and the legs and feet are grey.

Taxonomy, classification See Yellow-faced 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 Yellow-faced Honeyeater is available HERE . Yellow-faced Honeyeaters are endemic to Australia. They are found only along the South and East coast and the Great Dividing Range of Australia. Nominate race "chrysops" are partial migrants that spend winter mostly in the South, from about the VIC/SA border to southern NSW. During the summer they migrate up North, up to about the Rockhampton area, QLD, in some years also further to about the Milaroo River and further inland, out to a line connecting Carnarvon NP, QLD, and the Pilliga scrub, in northern NSW. Race "barroni", which is sedentary, has a restricted range and is found only in the tablelands from about Townsville, QLD, to Lakefield NP, QLD. Race "samueli" populates only the area around Adelaide, SA, and the region up to near Port Augusta, SA. Yellow-faced Honeyeaters are usually found in open forest and woodland. Often they stay high up in the tree crowns, but if certain shrubs are in flower, they will also visit flowers near the ground.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "chrysops" Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, race "chrysops", are summer visitors where we lived from 2003-2006, 20 km South of Narrabri, NSW. Since 2007 Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, race "chrysops", are spotted by us regularly in Deriah Aboriginal Area and in Mt. Kaputar NP, 30-40 km East of Narrabri, where they are common. Where we live, in open farmland at Eulah Creek, 20 km East of Narrabri, they are only rarely seen, but they can be found in nearby woodland and scrub. Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, race "chrysops", are spotted by us, and reported to us by contributors, regularly in the hills of the Great Dividing Range, from SE QLD to the NSW Central Coast. R. Plumtree reports spotting a Yellow-faced Honeyeater, race "chrysops", at Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, in April 2014. Race "barroni" R. Russell reports spotting a Yellow-faced Honeyeater, race "barroni", at Mount Molloy, QLD, in October 2007. B. Hensen found a Yellow-faced Honeyeater, race "barroni", at Julatten, QLD, in December 2018. J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours reports finding Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, race "barroni", in the tablelands near Cairns, e.g. in Wondecla and Yungaburra, QLD, on various occasions.

Photos

Race "chrysops"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Durikai SF, near Warwick, QLD, March 2018]

Close-up frontal view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater looking sideways
[Near Deriah Aboriginal Area, NSW, September 2019]

Close-up frontal/ventral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater looking sideways
[Munmorah SCA, NSW, July 2013]

Close-up near-frontal view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater looking sideways
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2015]

Near-lateral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater looking at the observer
[Near Deriah Aboriginal Area, NSW, September 2019]

Close-up near-lateral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater issuing its call
[Bullawa Creek SCA, NSW, October 2012]

Close-up lateral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater looking at the observer
[Near Deriah Aboriginal Area, NSW, September 2019]

Close-up lateral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater
[Bullawa Creek SCA, NSW, October 2012]

Lateral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Durikai SF, near Warwick, QLD, March 2018]

Close-up lateral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater
[Near Eulah Creek, NSW, December 2018]

Close-up lateral/ventral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater
[Timmallallie NP, NSW, November 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater
[20 km South of Narrabri, NSW, September 2006]

Dorsal view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater looking backwards (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Durikai SF, near Warwick, QLD, March 2018]

Close-up near-dorsal/ventral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater looking sideways
[Near Deriah Aboriginal Area, NSW, September 2019]

Ventral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater, demonstrating how hard it is to tell one type of honeyeater from another when one can see only the front
[Deriah Aboriginal Area, NSW, December 2008]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Partly obscured close-up lateral view of a sub-adult Yellow-faced Honeyeater - note the pink gape
[Old Quipolly Dam, near Quirindi, NSW, May 2022]

Race "barroni"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater (photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Yungaburra, QLD, September 2020]

Frontal portrait of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater looking sideways (photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Yungaburra, QLD, December 2020]

Close-up frontal view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater looking sideways (photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Yungaburra, QLD, December 2020]

Close-up frontal view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater taking nectar (photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Yungaburra, QLD, December 2020]

Lateral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Julatten, QLD, December 2018]

Lateral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater (photo courtesy of R. Russell)
[Mount Molloy, QLD, October 2007]

Close-up lateral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater just after take-off (photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Peterson Creek, Yungaburra, QLD, July 2022]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Jul - Jan

Eggs: 2 - 3

Incubation period: 14 - 15 days

Fledging age: 16 - 17 days

Nest

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

Type: Suspended basket

Material: Bark fibre, grass

Height above ground: 1.5 - 6 m

View from above into a Yellow-faced Honeyeater nest after it had served its purpose; note how, even after weeks of use, the nest is still spotless clean
[Near Eulah Creek, NSW, December 2018]

Near-lateral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater chick
[Near Eulah Creek, NSW, December 2018]

Yellow-faced Honeyeater nest with at least one naked chick inside
[Near Eulah Creek, NSW, December 2018]

Overview of the location of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater nest built into a fallen, dead eucalypt branch caught in a scrawny wilga shrub standing under the eucalypt
[Bullawa Creek SCA, NSW, October 2012]

Closer look at a Yellow-faced Honeyeater nest
[Bullawa Creek SCA, NSW, October 2012]

Lateral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater feeding one of two chicks
[Bullawa Creek SCA, NSW, October 2012]

Here one can see that the Yellow-faced Honeyeater chicks were still very young, covered in down and eyes still closed
[Bullawa Creek SCA, NSW, October 2012]

Close-up lateral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater keeping the nest clean by waiting for a chick to discharge a poo sac
[Bullawa Creek SCA, NSW, October 2012]

Yellow-faced Honeyeater nest after the birds were finished for the season
[Bullawa Creek SCA, NSW, November 2012]

Yellow-faced Honeyeater nest on a low branch of a pine tree
[Near Barraba, NSW, December 2008]

Eggs

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

Size: 21 x 14 mm

Colour: Creamy, with reddish to brown speckles

Shape: Tapered oval

View from above into a Yellow-faced Honeyeater nest with two eggs in it
[Near Eulah Creek, NSW, December 2018]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial?

Mobility: Migratory/dispersive

Elementary unit: Solitary/pair/flock

Yellow-faced Honeyeaters are one of the bird species that dive into shallow water from a perch and then fly back onto their perch to preen and dry their plumage.

Soaking wet Yellow-faced Honeyeater right out of the bathtub (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, April 2014]

Food, Diet

Adults: Nectar, insects

Dependents: Insects

Water intake: Daily

Like many other honeyeaters, Yellow-faced Honeyeaters do not exclusively feed on nectar, but take insects too.

Two Yellow-faced Honeyeaters in a Grevillea shrub (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[St. Albans, NSW, January 2019]

Lateral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater feeding head down on the nectar of a Callistemon
[20 km South of Narrabri, NSW, September 2006]

Lateral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater feeding on the nectar of a Callistemon
[20 km South of Narrabri, NSW, September 2006]

Head-on view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater feeding in a eucalypt (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, April 2014]

Near-dorsal view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater feeding on nectar from Mistletoe flowers (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mann River Nature Reserve, near Glen Innes, NSW, July 2019]

Close-up lateral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater at a waterhole
[Near Deriah Aboriginal Area, NSW, September 2019]

Close-up lateral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater at a bird bath
[Eulah Creek, NSW, May 2026]

Close-up lateral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater using its wire brush tongue to scoop up water
[Near Deriah Aboriginal Area, NSW, September 2019]

Yellow-faced Honeyeater having a drink from a waterhole (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Timmallallie NP, NSW, November 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.

yelface_20170810.m4a	chrysops (NW NSW)	Contact call(?)	© MD
yelface_20220517.m4a	chrysops (NW NSW)	Contact call(?)	© MD
yelface_20171022.m4a	chrysops (NW NSW)	Contact call(?)	© MD
yelface_20171129.m4a	chrysops (NW NSW)	Territorial calls (pre-dawn chorus)	© MD
yelface_20141210_3.mp3	chrysops (NW NSW)	Q&A	© MD
yelface_20141210_2.mp3	chrysops (NW NSW)	Warning call & contact call	© MD
yelface_20220601.m4a	chrysops (NW NSW)	Various	© MD
yelface_20240623.m4a	chrysops (NW NSW)	?	© MD
yelface_20170810_2.m4a	chrysops (NW NSW)	?	© MD
yelface_20181001.m4a	chrysops (N NSW)	?	© MD

More Yellow-faced 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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