Grey-fronted Honeyeater
Ptilotula plumula
The Grey-fronted Honeyeater (Ptilotula plumula) is a rare honeyeater found only in Australia, weighing about 17 g. The grey-fronted honeyeater is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae.










About the Grey-fronted Honeyeater
The grey-fronted honeyeater is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation. The grey-fronted honeyeater was originally described in 1841 by English ornithologist John Gould as Lichenostomus plumulus. It was moved to the genus Ptilotula after a molecular phylogenetic analysis, published in 2011, showed that Lichenostomus was polyphyletic.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How to identify it
The grey-fronted honeyeater is a small, plain honeyeater with a yellow neck plume bordered above by black. It has a small grey patch at the forehead, that may be obscure in northern subspecies. The crown is olive yellow and the lores blackish. The upper parts are olive grey and flight feathers yellow olive. Underparts are off white with indistinct stripes. The grey-fronted honeyeater can easily be confused with the yellow-tinted honeyeater as their ranges overlap and they are of similar size.
Where it lives
When to see it
Best months: March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, with peak activity in September. It is a variable species across most of its range.
Easily confused with
Quick questions
- How do you identify a Grey-fronted Honeyeater?
- The grey-fronted honeyeater is a small, plain honeyeater with a yellow neck plume bordered above by black. Full identification notes are on this page.
- How big is a Grey-fronted Honeyeater?
- The Grey-fronted Honeyeater is a small sized bird weighing about 17 g.
- Where can you see a Grey-fronted Honeyeater?
- The Grey-fronted Honeyeater is endemic to Australia, which is the only country where it occurs.
- What birds look similar to a Grey-fronted Honeyeater?
- The Grey-fronted Honeyeater is most easily confused with the Grey-headed Honeyeater, the Yellow-tinted Honeyeater and the Yellow-plumed Honeyeater.
- Is the Grey-fronted Honeyeater endangered?
- The Grey-fronted Honeyeater is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Learn the Grey-fronted Honeyeater for real
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