Breeding Record of the Black Honeyeater at Port Neill, Eyre Peninsula
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76 SOUTH AUSTRALIAN ORNITHOLOGIST, 30 BREEDING RECORD OF THE BLACK HONEYEATER AT PORT NEILL, EYRE PENINSULA TREVOR COX Eckert et al. (1985) pointed out that the Black indicated by dead branches protruding slightly Honeyeater Certhionyx niger has been reported above the vegetation. The male would perch on from Eyre Peninsula but that its occurrence there each branch in turn for approximately one minute requires substantiation. In this note, I report the and repeatedly give a single note call. Display occurrence and breeding ofBlack Honeyeaters on flights at this time attained a height of 1O-12m and the Peninsula. the female was only heard occasionally, uttering a On 5 October 1985, I saw, six to ten Black soft, single note call from the nest area. The male Honeyeaters in a small patch of scrub on a rise defended the territory against other Black adjacent to the southern edge of the township of Honeyeaters, a Singing Honeyeater Port Neill on Eyre Peninsula. The scrub consisted Lichenostomus virescens and a Tawny-crowned of stunted maIlee, Broomebush Melaleuca Honeyeater Gliciphila melanops. It chased the uncinata, Porcupine Grass Triodia irritans and latter 50m on one occasion. shrubs. The only eucalypt flowering at the time The nest wasin a stunted mallee at 0.35m height. was Red Mallee Eucalyptus socialis. It was a small cup 55mm in diameter and 40mm A description taken from my field notes of the deep, made of fine sticks bound with spider web, birds seen at Port Neill is as follows: lined with hair roots and adorned with pieces of A small honeyeater of similar size to silvereye [Zosterops], barkhanging from it. In one observation period of with a long, slender, downcurved bill. Head all black. Back 30 minutes, the male fed the two nestlings every and tail black. Wings: primaries and secondaries very dark four minutes and the female was absent. The brown, coverts black. Throat black extending to a long V down the centre of the breast, the -rest of the underparts nestlings fledged on 4 November. Until 10 white. Female: brown above, white below with a smudge of November, I watched the fledgelings daily for brown on the breast. 20-30 minutes; they were fed only by the male, a I have previously seen the verysimilar but larger female appearing only once and not near the Pied Honeyeater Certhionyx variegatus at young birds. This female chasedthe male, the latter Chambers Gorge in the Flinders Ranges and performing display flights several times. My last remember it as being larger than the birds seen at sighting was ofa male on 17November. Port Neill. I also photographed the Black In addition to insects caught on the wing, the Honeyeaters at Port Neill. Black Honeyeaters fed on flowers of E. socialis, When first seen on 5 October 1985,at 0600, the Prostanthera sp., and, in gardens, E. megacornuta, birds were hawking for insects. Later, the males Eremophila bicolor, Eremophila calihabidos and were chasing each other and performing display Grevil/ealavanderlacea. flights. These flights consisted of an individual climbing at an angle of45 degrees with four or five wingbeats to about three or four metres in height REFERENCES and then, at the top ofthe climb, giving a two note Eckert, H. J., Parker, S.A. and J. R. W. Reid, 1985. Birds. Chapter 12in Twidale, C. R., Tyler,M. J. and Davies M. (eds) call before dropping down. This was repeated 1985. Natural History of Eyre Peninsula, pp 149-157. Royal about fivetimes before each bird settled on a bush. Society ofSouth Australia: Adelaide. The females remained concealed inlow bushes and Ford, H. 1978. The Black Honeyeater: nomad or migrant? S. wererarely seen. These display flights and calls are Aust, Oro. 27: 263-269. essentially similar to those described by Ford Pizzey, G. 1980.A Field Guide to the Birdsof Australia. Collins: Sydney. (1978) and Pizzey (1980). By 16 October, three pairs had established territories. Only one pair was confirmed as Box50, Port Neill, SA., 5604 breeding. Theboundary ofthis pair's territory was Accepted 21 July 1986.