The vanishing voice of the Regent Honeyeater
NSW Status: Critically Endangered
Commonwealth Status: Critically Endangered
An elusive woodland bird, the Regent Honeyeater is critically endangered, with less than 350 birds left in the wild. They were once widespread across south-eastern Australia, but the last 30 years has seen a rapid decline in their numbers, largely due to loss and fragmentation of habitat.
The call of the male Regent Honeyeater is a soft bell-like song. Sadly, the drastic drop in numbers means that young male birds are not learning their song from adult males and are instead mimicking the calls of other local bird species, with their ancestral song becoming a thing of the past.
What do they look like?
The Regent Honeyeater is a medium-sized woodland bird with distinctive yellow and black markings. It has a noticeable patch of dark pink or cream coloured facial skin surrounding its eye, and a sturdy, curved bill which allows it to feed on the nectar of flowering eucalypts.
Males and females are similar in appearance, with males being slighter bigger, darker in colour and have a larger patch of skin around the eye.
Habitat and Diet
A woodland bird, the Regent Honeyeater generally inhabits the dry, open forests and woodlands of south-east Australia. They feed mostly on the nectar of native flowers, but will also eat insects and spiders. They are often seen foraging in flowering coastal Swamp Mahogany and Spotted Gum forests, and play a crucial role in pollinating a range of Eucalypt species such as Mugga Ironbark, Yellow Box and Swamp Mahogany.
Under threat
Clearing of woodland forests for agricultural and residential development has severely impacted the Regent Honeyeater. The population of the bird is now small and scattered across the few breeding areas that remain. Additionally, the 2019/20 bushfires impacted around 40% of these breeding locations, also affecting their food sources – woodland eucalypts may not flower again for 5 years after sever bushfire.
What can you do?
If you are lucky enough to see a Regent Honeyeater please report the sighting to Birdlife Australia. Sightings are becoming exceedingly rare – a prompt report allows the bird to be monitored to gather data and identify crucial breeding events.
Several other projects are also underway to help save the Regent Honeyeater, including maintaining captive populations and releasing zoo-bred birds into the wild, protecting and enhancing key breeding and foraging habitats and encouraging natural regeneration of potential habitats.
