Singing Honeyeater

Scientific Name: Lichenostomus virescens

Description: The Singing Honeyeater has a plain grey-brown body with a distinctive black streak through the eye from the bill to the neck. The black streak is bordered by a yellow streak below the eye. They also have a small, inconspicuous white ear-tuft, usually hidden by yellow feathers over the ears. They build a delicate nest among the foliage of the shrubs they live in.

In Victoria, the Singing Honeyeater is a bird of the coastal scrub west of Western Port Bay and the drier Mallee area in the Northwest of the state. It is often heard calling “prtt prtt prtt” from the top of a tall bush or tree on the Bluff or along the dune system of 13th Beach. This bird also utters a peevish “scree.”

Its preferred food is the berries of local shrubs, but it also feeds on nectar and insects. Some innovative birds have discovered that the dregs of a camper’s coffee cup may also contain a sweet drink.

Type: Bird
Where to find: Shrubby habitats such as salt-pruned coastal scrub.
Size: 22cm