WHITE-CHEEKED (Phylidonyris niger) - VORAC Submission

NAME OF OBSERVER

Owen Lishmund

OTHER OBSERVERS

David Adam, Philip Peel, Bill Twiss, Jack Winterbottom

EMAIL [email protected]

SPECIES

White-cheeked Honeyeater (Phylidonyris niger)

DATE OF SIGHTING

09/03/2018

LOCATION

Howe Flat, Victoria. Located in Cape Howe Wilderness area. in question seen along Howe Flat Track approximately 100 metres East of the start of the boardwalk and walking track which heads South towards the ocean, and approximately 50 metres west of another walking track which also heads South to meet with the track containing the boardwalk.

Approximate GPS coordinates of the location along Howe Flat Track where initial sighting was made are: -37.533566, 149.814818

NOTES

This bird was initially detected by its call and the first sighting was made soon after at approximately 17:45pm of one individual feeding on flowers in the canopy of a Eucalypt. Good views were obtained through binoculars, but it soon took off and wasn't relocated until around 10-15 minutes later. It was feeding on mainly Coast Banskia (Banskia integrifolia) and sometimes on Red Bloodwood (Eucalyptus gummifera), and was also making the odd flights to sally for insects. There were many New Holland and a few Little Wattlebirds present which were sharing these food sources. The bird hung around in the vicinity for at least an hour, allowing repeat views, and was also calling frequently. It was often moving between trees or making return flights to perches, presumably to hunt for insects. We speculated that potentially more than one bird was present due to seemingly hearing or seeing the bird in different locations in the general vicinity over a short period of time, but this would be near impossible to determine from the photos obtained and rapid movement of the same individual between different trees cannot be ruled out.

The individual in question appeared to be an adult bird. There were numerous distinctive characteristics which helped to identify this bird, and comparisons will be drawn with only ; the only species likely to be confused with White-cheeked Honeyeater. The bird in question had an obvious, large, triangular- shaped white patch on the lower half of its face (from which the name ‘White-cheeked’ is derived), which merged with the white and black streaking on the breast, in contrast to the largely black face of a New Holland Honeyeater, which, in a similar area of its face, only has small white patches on the sides of the throat and lower nape. Also evident was the completely dark eye (more importantly, dark iris) of this bird which sets it apart from adult New Holland Honeyeaters which have a white iris. It also had appreciable white patches on the sides of the forehead which started around the base of the upper mandible and narrowed to form continuous eyebrow markings running along the sides of the crown, as opposed to the insignificant, streaky white patches above the upper mandible base of New Holland Honeyeaters which are completely separated from the white lines along either side of the back half of their crown. Another standout feature on this individual was the entirely black chin and central throat area whereas New Holland Honeyeaters usually have a "beard" - fine, pale feathering on the throat. The calls made by this bird were noticeably different from those of a New Holland Honeyeater, and was what originally drew my attention to it. Contact calls sounded more mellow and less piercing than the usual New Holland Honeyeater contact call, and was often double-noted. It also made a few short bursts of the unique, melodious song which fit closely with recordings of White- cheeked Honeyeater calls I had listened to online prior to the trip, and was unlike any other song I’d heard from other resident Honeyeater species Victoria to date.

There have been two additional reported sightings of this individual to my knowledge, one on 08/03/18 (the day before this sighting), and another on 11/03/18.

To add some context there have been a handful of other, past records of White-cheeked Honeyeater from this part of Victoria, including one from November 2014 of two individuals in exactly the same location as this sighting. Additionally, there has been another more recent record from Cape Conran area in January 2018.