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18

Yellow-throated Miner

(Manorina flavigula)
Alternate name(s): "Dusky Miner", "White-rumped Miner", "Mickey*"
Aboriginal name(s): "booer", "bilyagorong" (WA)

Size: 26-28 cm
Weight: 55-65 g

Similar
species

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

Physical description

Click here for a physical description

Taxonomy, classification

See Yellow-throated Miner at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species

Click here for information on habitat and range

Sightings

Click here for sighting information

Photos

Race "flavigula"

Not the photos you want? Or are you after even better quality? Have a look here .

ADULT

Sex unknown

Full-frontal view of a Yellow-throated Miner
[Pilliga Bore Bath, near Pilliga, NSW, November 2017]

Frontal view of a Yellow-throated Miner (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[St. George, QLD, August 2018]

Frontal view of a Yellow-throated Miner (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bourke, NSW, June 2022]

Near-lateral view of a Yellow-throated Miner (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[St. George, QLD, August 2018]

Near-lateral view of a Yellow-throated Miner (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bourke, NSW, June 2022]

Near-lateral view of a Yellow-throated Miner (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[St. George, QLD, August 2018]

Lateral portrait of a Yellow-throated Miner
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, August 2010]

Lateral view of a Yellow-throated Miner studying the photographer
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, October 2017]

Close-up lateral view of a Yellow-throated Miner in an ironbark eucalypt tree
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, August 2017]

Lateral view of a Yellow-throated Miner
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, August 2010]

Dorsal view of a Yellow-throated Miner
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, August 2010]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Fledgling Yellow-throated Miner (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)

Race "wayensis"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Yellow-throated Miner (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Yulara, NT, March 2015]

Frontal view of a Yellow-throated Miner (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Barkley Highway, 50 km NW of Mount Isa, QLD, June 2021]

Frontal/ventral view of a soaking wet Yellow-throated Miner (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Moondarra, near Mount Isa, QLD, June 2021]

Near-frontal view of a Yellow-throated Miner (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Barkley Highway, 50 km NW of Mount Isa, QLD, June 2021]

Near-frontal view of a Yellow-throated Miner (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Barkley Highway, 50 km NW of Mount Isa, QLD, June 2021]

Lateral view of a Yellow-throated Miner (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Boolardy Station, Murchison, WA, July 2015]

Family clan of Yellow-throated Miners scavenging "bikkies" (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Yulara, NT, March 2015]

Family clan of Yellow-throated Miners in a dead tree (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Bedourie to Boulia Highway, QLD, September 2019]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Near-frontal view of a fledgling Yellow-throated Miner (photo courtesy of M. Pears)
[Exmouth, WA, May 2021]

Near-lateral view of a fledgling Yellow-throated Miner (photo courtesy of M. Pears)
[Exmouth, WA, May 2021]

Race "obscura"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Near-frontal view of a Yellow-throated Miner (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Carramar Golf Course, Perth, WA, April 2016]

Lateral view of a Yellow-throated Miner (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Carramar Golf Course, Perth, WA, April 2016]

Near-dorsal view of a Yellow-throated Miner (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Carramar Golf Course, Perth, WA, April 2016]

Race "melvillensis"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Distant lateral view of a Yellow-throated Miner (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Pickertaramoor, Melville Island, NT, in December 2016]

Race "lutea"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Full-frontal view of a Yellow-throated Miner (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Lake Argyle, near Kununurra, WA, April 2018]

Frontal view of a Yellow-throated Miner (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Lake Argyle, near Kununurra, WA, April 2018]

Frontal view of a Yellow-throated Miner (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Lake Argyle, near Kununurra, WA, April 2018]

Here one can clearly see the yellow forehead of a Yellow-throated Miner, race "lutea" (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Lake Argyle, near Kununurra, WA, April 2018]

Lateral view of a Yellow-throated Miner (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Palmerston Golf Course, Palmerston, NT, December 2019]

Breeding information

Breeding season: July - Jan Eggs: 3 - 4 Incubation period: 16? days Fledging age: 17? - 19? days

Given the right conditions, Yellow-throated Miners can breed any time of the year. Especially in arid inland regions their breeding cycle depends more on rainfall events than time of year.

Nest

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

Type: Basket Material: Twigs, grass; lined with wool and feathers Height above ground: 2 - 10? m

Yellow-throated Miner nest in a eucalypt tree
[Moree, NSW, September 2015]

Yellow-throated Miner incubating its eggs
[Moree, NSW, September 2015]

Both Yellow-throated Miner parents bringing food for their chicks
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, November 2014]

Yellow-throated Miner collecting nesting material
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2007]

Eggs

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

Size: 25 x 18 mm Colour: Light-brown, heavily speckled with mid-brown speckles Shape: Tapered oval

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Communal Mobility: Sedentary Elementary unit: Family clan

Like all species of miners, Yellow-throated Miners are highly sociable. They live in family units of up to 10 or 12 birds.

Part of a family of Yellow-throated Miners; such congregations tend to be rather noisy affairs...
[Eulah Creek, NSW, July 2011]

Family clan of Yellow-throated Miners resting high up in an eucalypt
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, June 2016]

Yellow-throated Miners that transgress against the rules of the mob get to feel where they belong (photo courtesy of V. Collins)
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, June 2021]

Food, Diet

Adults: Nectar, insects Dependents: Insects Water intake: Daily

Like all Miners of the Manorina family, Yellow-throated Miners feed mostly on insects taken from leaves or bark, rather than nectar.

Yellow-throated Miner taking nectar from mistletoe
[Near Mungindi, NSW, June 2013]

Yellow-throated Miner that has caught an insect
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2007]

Yellow-throated Miner taking nectar from a eucalypt tree
[Eulah Creek, NSW, July 2011]

Different example of a Yellow-throated Miner taking nectar from a eucalypt tree
[Pilliga, NSW, November 2013]

This Yellow-throated Miner came to pick its feed of psyllids and lerps from the underside of a tree's leaves
[20 km South of Narrabri, NSW, May 2006]

Yellow-throated Miner taking a lerp from the underside of an eucalypt leaf (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[St. George, QLD, August 2018]

Yellow-throated Miners will happily scavenge food from humans (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Yulara, NT, March 2015]

Yellow-throated Miner with a liking for potato chips; ripple cut seems to be in favour... (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Carramar Golf Course, Perth, WA, April 2016]

Yellow-throated Miner drinking from a leaking water storage tank
[Flinders Ranges, SA, March 2008]

This Yellow-throated Miner came in for a drink from one of our bowls; the near-frontal view shows clearly both yellow throat patches (photo taken through a fence)
[Eulah Creek, NSW, July 2011]

Additional information

There is a separate page with a short description of psyllids and lerps.

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.

ytminer_20140120.mp3 flavigula
(NW NSW)
Contact calls © MD
ytminer_20180516.m4a flavigula
(NW NSW)
Upset (mob) © MD
ytminer_20141109.mp3 flavigula
(NW NSW)
Begging calls? © MD
 
ytminer_pb_20210222.m4a lutea
(Top End, NT)
? (foraging) © PB
ytminer_pb_20210222_2.m4a lutea
(Top End, NT)
? (foraging) © PB

More Yellow-throated Miner 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.