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| Regent Honeyeater | ||||||||||||||
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| Xanthomyza phrygia (Shaw, 1794) |
The Regent Honeyeater, Xanthomyza phrygia, is an endangered Australian bird. It feeds on nectar and insects within eucalyptus forests.
The Regent Honeyeater was once common in wooded areas of eastern Australia, especially along the inland slopes of the Great Dividing Range. It once could be found as far west as Adelaide, but is now gone from South Australia and western Victoria. Its population is now scattered, and the only breeding habitat is in north-eastern Victoria and the central coast of New South Wales.
Recent genetic research suggests it is closely related to the wattlebirds. It also exhibits unusual behaviour, in that particularly during winter, isolated individuals of this species associate with and then often mimic the calls of wattlebirds and friarbirds. Although many birds use vocal copying behaviour, no other bird species is known to use vocal mimicry of close relatives in this way. See Veerman, P.A. 1992 & 1994 Australian Bird Watcher.
Conservation status
It is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and under both Australia's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and Queensland's Nature Conservation Act 1992.
References
- BirdLife International (2004). Xanthomyza phrygia. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is endangered
External links
- Info on the Regent Honeyeater from BirdsAustralia.com
- BirdLife Species Factsheet.
- New South Wales - Department of Environment: Regent Honeyeater threatened species profile.
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