Animal Diaries Archive

Sweethearts of the rainforest aviary

24 August 2007

There are 67 Honeyeater species in Australia, at least one species occurs in every terrestrial habitat in Australia. From tropical rainforests, arid shrub lands, mangroves to suburbia.

They are one of the most successful bird groups in Australia. The most striking anatomical feature of the Honeyeater is the brush tipped tongue which functions in the same way as a paintbrush, collecting fluids such as nectar by capillarity. Most of them can protrude their tongues beyond their beak tips enabling them to get nectar from the base of long tubular flowers or honeydew from cracks in the bark. They can empty a flower in one second.

Honeyeater's feed mainly on nectar, fruit and sugary secretions of herbivorous insects which are low in nutrients, so they all eat insects for protein and nutrients. They are also important for pollination land seed dispensing. The following species of Honeyeater live in our Australia Zoo Rainforest Aviary.

Regent Honeyeater
It is thought there are only about 1500 Regent Honeyeaters left. The only core breeding areas remaining are the Capertee Valley (NSW Central Tablelands), Bundarra and Barraba (NSW Northern Tablelands) and the Chiltern and Albury area and adjacent Murray (NE Victoria).
They have a pleasant penetrating bell like voice accompanied by head raising and head bobbing with bill claps.
We have three very active male Regent Honeyeater's in our Aviary and their names are Richie (pictured), Rob and Reggy.

Lewin's Honeyeater
Lewin's are one of the most common birds found along the Australian East Coast rainforest areas. They feed mainly on insects, nectar and fruit. Their fast "machine gun" like series of whistles can be heard in any eastern rainforest. The Lewin's Honeyeater is very common and found here on the Sunshine Coast. In the aviary we have Leroy and Lester (pictured) who are constantly following staff around to see what treats they have for them.

Striped Honeyeater
Striped honeyeaters are found in Eastern Australia from Cape York into South Australia and Northern NSW. They can be found in woodlands and open forests often along rivers as well as mangroves.
They feed mainly on insects (spiders) but will also eat nectar, seeds, berries and fruit. Our three lovely boys are very fast in flight, so you have to be quick to catch a glimpse of them. Their names are Sebastian, Salvatore and Syd. Their favourite past time is to chat to the wild Striped Honeyeaters outsides.The next time you are in the Zoo, please come to the Rainforest Aviary and ask our keepers to find these lil' sweethearts.
Gayle