Spiny Cheeked Honeyeater

We usually have a plentiful number of honeyeaters resident and breeding in our garden and the nearby mallee scrub. Probably the most numerous is the New Holland Honeyeater. This would be closely followed by the Red Wattlebird and the White-plumed Honeyeater. We also have several Singing Honeyeaters. From time to time we have visits from a small flock of Brown-headed Honeyeaters. They love splashing in our bird bath. Several other species visit only rarely. Some I haven’t seen here in many years.

One species we usually have around the garden somewhere is the Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, as shown in the photos on this post. This species has been rather quiet lately. Just before I managed to race for the camera and get these shots the adult bird was feeding a young one. They must have been keeping their presence quiet while they were nesting.

This species is found throughout much of mainland Australia but not in Tasmania. It is also absent from the tropical north, coastal south east and far south west of the continent. Its preferred habitats include drier woodlands, scrubs and gardens.

The plant shown in the photos is Eremophila glabra.

When they were little, our children used to call this bird the “yoo-hoo” bird. This is one of its calls and is quite memorable. My wife and I still refer to it by this name.

Spiny Cheeked Honeyeater