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18

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

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.

Photos

Race "chrysops"

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ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal portrait of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater
[Near Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2019]

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

Close-up frontal/ventral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater
[Near Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2019]

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

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

Near-lateral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater
[Near Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2019]

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

Close-up near-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 Eualh Creek, NSW, December 2018]

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

Lateral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater that is still partly wet after taking a bath
[Girraween NP, QLD, January 2017]

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

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

Dorsal view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater that is still partly wet after taking a bath
[Girraween NP, QLD, January 2017]

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]

Yellow-faced Honeyeater after a first dip in a waterhole
[Pilliga scrub, NSW, December 2011]

Yellow-faced Honeyeater straight out of the bathtub
[Near Warialda, NSW, August 2015]

Yellow-faced Honeyeater just after take-off
[Deriah Aboriginal Area, NSW, May 2008]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

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

Race "barroni"

ADULT

Sex unknown

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]

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]

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

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

Yellow-faced Honeyeater nest built into a fallen, dead eucalypt branch hanging in a scrawny wilga tree standing under the eucalypt
[Bullawa Creek SCA, NSW, October 2012]

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

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]

Yellow-faced Honeyeater keeping the nest clean
[Bullawa Creek SCA, NSW, October 2012]

Yellow-faced Honeyeater bringing food for its chicks
[Near Eulah Creek, NSW, December 2018]

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

Yellow-faced Honeyeater nest in 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

Yellow-faced Honeyeater eggs inside a nest
[Near Eulah Creek, NSW, December 2018]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: ?

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]

This Yellow-faced Honeyeater, which was found low above the ground in introduced weeds ("Sticky beaks"; "Cobbler's pegs"), is seen calling; its calls were recorded on 16 October 2014
[Near Narrabri, NSW, October 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]

Yellow-faced Honeyeater feeding on the nectar of a Callistemon (bottlebrush) flower
[20 km South of Narrabri, NSW, September 2006]

Yellow-faced Honeyeater feeding on the nectar of a Callistemon (bottlebrush) flower
[20 km South of Narrabri, NSW, September 2006]

Yellow-faced Honeyeater feeding in a box gum 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]

Yellow-faced Honeyeater feeding in a box gum eucalypt
[Bullawa Creek SCA, NSW, August 2013]

Lateral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater at a waterhole
[Near Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2019]

Lateral view of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater using its wire brush tongue to scoop up water
[Near Eulah Creek, 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_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.

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: Mon, 6 June 2022, 0:11 +00:00