Brown Honeyeater

Lichmera indistincta

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernNectarWoodlandCup nestTiny · 11 g

What the Brown Honeyeater sounds like

Sonogram of the Brown Honeyeater: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Peter Russell · Call · Burrup, Shire of Roebourne, Western Australia, Australia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Brown Honeyeater: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Peter Russell · Call · Burrup, Shire of Roebourne, Western Australia, Australia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

The brown honeyeater is a medium-small, plain grey-brown honeyeater with a body length of 12–16 centimetres (4.7–6.3 in), a wingspan of 18–23 centimetres (7.1–9.1 in), and an average weight of 9–11 grams (0.32–0.39 oz). The female is slightly smaller than the male, but the sexes differ only slightly in appearance. The head, back, rump, and upper tail-coverts are brown, and the wings a darker brown. The only distinguishing features are a small yellow patch behind the eye, which is indistinct in some birds, and dull yellow-olive panels in the folded wings and tail. Voice: The nondescript brown honeyeater has a noteworthy song, usually described in superlatives. "A glorious voice, easily the best songster among Australian honeyeaters," is how one study of West Australian birds noted. "As a singer it has no superior among the honeyeater family, or for that matter, among Australian birds," said another report.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Brown Honeyeater

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is August, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Brown Honeyeater

Regular range

The map shades 4 countries with regular records. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

About the Brown Honeyeater

The brown honeyeater is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It belongs to the honeyeaters, a group of birds which have highly developed brush-tipped tongues adapted for nectar feeding. Honeyeaters are found mainly in Australia, New Guinea, and parts of Indonesia, but the brown honeyeater is unique in that it also occurs on the island of Bali, making it the only honeyeater to be found west of the Wallace Line, the biogeographical boundary between the Australian-Papuan and Oriental zoogeographical regions.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

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