The purple-gaped honeyeater (''Lichenostomus cratitius'') is a species of
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
in the family
Meliphagidae
The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family (biology), family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Epthianura, Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, Manorina, miners and melidectes. They are m ...
. It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to semi-arid southern
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, where it inhabits
mallee, tall heath and associated low eucalypt woodland.
[Menkhorst, P., Rogers, D., Clarke, R., Davies, J., Marsack, P., Franklin, K. (2019) ''The Australian Bird Guide: Revised Edition'', ]CSIRO Publishing
CSIRO Publishing is an Australian-based science and technology publisher. It publishes books, journals and magazines across a range of scientific disciplines, including agriculture, chemistry, plant and animal sciences, natural history and enviro ...
, Melbourne, Victoria,
Description
The purple-gaped honeyeater is a medium-sized (16-19 centimetres) honeyeater which is generally grey-olive above and buffish yellow below.
They have a patterned head, with a black eyestripe against a grey background and purple gape above a yellow streak on the throat and pointed yellow ear coverts.
Juveniles are similar, but with duller facial patterns, slightly browner plumage, and a yellow gape and gape line.
The
Kangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island (, ) is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island, Northern Territory, Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest of Adelaide. Its closest point to the mainland is Snapper Poi ...
subspecies is considered to be larger and darker than the mainland subspecies.
Similar species include
yellow-plumed honeyeater and
singing honeyeater.
The bird is also named Wattle-Cheeked Honeyeater in Birds of Australia vol 11 by Gregory Mathews
Call
The song is a clear ''toweet-toweet-toweet'', followed by a high-pitched ''yep-yep-yep'', often performed from a tall branch, including before dawn.
Distribution
They occur in disjunct populations across southern Australia, east from southern Western Australia, with the eastern population largely occurring south of the Murray River, and NSW forming the extreme north-east of its range.
Despite its naturally disjunct populations, the purple-gaped honeyeater has very low genetic diversity across its range.
Ecology and behaviour
The main habitat type for purple-gaped honeyeater is mallee woodland and shrubland.
[Tzaros, C. (2021) ''Wildlife of the Box-Ironbark Country.'' 2nd Edition, ]CSIRO Publishing
CSIRO Publishing is an Australian-based science and technology publisher. It publishes books, journals and magazines across a range of scientific disciplines, including agriculture, chemistry, plant and animal sciences, natural history and enviro ...
, Melbourne, Victoria, This includes
bull mallee, with patches of
green mallee or
blue mallee.
They also occur in
yellow gum woodland with dense thickets of
'totem-poles' or
violet honey-myrtle on low-lying flats and gullies in mallee areas.
They are occasionally recorded in
river red gums bordering waterways,
and seasonally in
red ironbark woodlands when they are in flower.
Purple-gaped honeyeaters can also occasionally be found in gardens.
They are gregarious, usually seen in pairs, or groups of 3-8 birds.
Generally considered quiet and unobtrusive, except in spring when they may call often.
They are known to regularly drink and bathe, particularly in warmer weather.
Purple-gaped honeyeaters associate with
yellow-plumed honeyeater and
tawny-crowned honeyeater,
but can be aggressive towards other honeyeaters,
and frequently chase other birds, particularly when feeding.
Diet
Purple-gaped honeyeaters feed mainly on nectar and insects,
especially from flowering mallee eucalypts,
and banksias.
They also forage for insects under loose bark on trunks and branches of trees, or catch flying insects on the wing.
Seeds, pollen and honeydew from
scale insects
Scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. Of dramatically variable appearance and extreme sexual dimorphism, they comprise the infraorder Coccomorpha which is considered a more convenient grouping than the ...
are less frequently consumed.
Reproduction
Purple-gaped honeyeaters build nests as a small cup of bark strips, grass and down, bound with spider web and egg sacs, slung in a horizontal fork or from slender branchlets within dense foliage (usually
broombush or eucalypts), normally less than three metres above the ground.
Threats
The purple-gaped honeyeater is vulnerable to clearing of mallee, which destroys habitat by removing food plants and nesting sites.
Conservation actions
Conservation status
* Internationally
: * The species is listed under the
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological spe ...
as a species of 'Least concern'.
* Australia
: * In NSW, it is listed as ''Vulnerable'' under the
Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016.
: * In South Australia, the species is listed as ''Rare'' under the
National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972
Protected areas of South Australia, consisting of protected areas located within South Australia and its immediate onshore waters and which are managed by South Australian Government agencies. As of 2018, South Australia contained 359 separat ...
.
: * In Victoria, the species is listed as ''Vulnerable'' under the
Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988
The ''Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988'', also known as the ''FFG Act'', is an act of the Victorian Parliament designed to protect species, genetic material and habitats, to prevent extinction and allow maximum genetic diversity within the Au ...
.
Protected areas
Purple-gaped honeyeaters occur in several
protected areas
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...
, including:
* New South Wales
: *
Mallee Cliffs National Park
The Mallee Cliffs National Park is a state park, protected national park that is located in the Sunraysia region, in the south-west of New South Wales, Australia. The national park is situated approximately west of Sydney and east of the ...
* South Australia
: *
Flinders Chase National Park
Flinders Chase National Park (formerly Flinders Chase) is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located at the west end of Kangaroo Island about west-south west of the state capital of Adelaide and west of the municipal ...
: *
Gawler Ranges National Park
Gawler Ranges National Park is a protected area lying north-west of Adelaide in the northern Eyre Peninsula of South Australia. It is known for its spectacular rock formations.
History
The national park originated as the Paney Station pasto ...
: *
Billiatt Conservation Park
: *
Peebinga Conservation Park
: *
Gluepot Reserve
Gluepot Reserve is a private protected area located in the Australian state of South Australia in the gazetted locality of Gluepot, South Australia, Gluepot about north of the town of Waikerie, South Australia, Waikerie.
History
Gluepot was e ...
* Victoria
: *
Greater Bendigo National Park
The Greater Bendigo National Park is a national park located in the Loddon Mallee region of Victoria, Australia. The national park was created in 2002 from the former Whipstick State Park, Kamarooka State Park, One Tree Hill Regional Park, Mandu ...
: *
Hattah-Kulkyne National Park
The Hattah-Kulkyne National Park is a national park in the Mallee district of Victoria, Australia. The national park is situated adjacent to the Murray River, approximately northwest of Melbourne with the nearest regional centre being Mildura. ...
: *
Little Desert National Park
The Little Desert National Park is a national park in the Wimmera Mallee region of Victoria, Australia. The national park is situated near Dimboola, approximately west of Melbourne and extends from the Wimmera River in the east to the South ...
: *
Murray-Sunset National Park
: *
Wyperfeld National Park
The Wyperfeld National Park is the third-largest national park in Victoria, Australia, located in the Mallee district, approximately north-west of Melbourne. The national park was declared in 1921 and has been expanded significantly since, to ...
: *
Big Desert Wilderness Park
The Big Desert Wilderness Park is a protected area in the Australian state of Victoria, Australia located in the state's west adjoining the border with South Australia. It is the oldest of Victoria's three wilderness parks.
The wilderness par ...
: *
Lake Albacutya Park
: *
Inglewood Nature Conservation Reserve
: *
Wychitella Nature Conservation Reserve
* Western Australia
: *
Cape Arid National Park
Cape Arid National Park is a List of national parks of Australia, national park located in Western Australia, southeast of Perth. The park is situated east of Esperance, Western Australia, Esperance and lies on the shore of the South coast of ...
: *
Cape Le Grand National Park
Cape Le Grand National Park is a national park in Western Australia, south-east of Perth and east of Esperance. The park covers an area of
The area is an ancient landscape which has been above sea level for well over 200 million years and ...
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q854690
purple-gaped honeyeater
Birds of New South Wales
Birds of South Australia
Birds of Victoria (state)
Birds of Western Australia
Endemic birds of Australia
purple-gaped honeyeater
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot