Regent Honeyeater

Scientific name: Anthochaera phrygia

Author(s)

Louise Carter, Melissa Murray
Updated

30/03/23
Read time

2 minutes

Regent Honeyeater Image: Tony Morris
creative commons

Fast Facts

IUCN Conservation Status

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED (CR)
Classification

Genus

Anthochaera

Species

phrygia

Family

Meliphagidae

Order

Passeriformes

Class

Aves

Phylum

Chordata
Size Range

Up to 23 cm.

What do Regent Honeyeaters look like?

Identification

It has a black head, neck and upper breast, a yellow back and breast scaled black, with the underparts grading into a white rump; black wings with conspicuous yellow patches, and a black tail, edged yellow. The male has yellowish warty bare skin around the eye. The female is smaller, with a bare yellowish patch under the eye only, and has less black on the throat.

Regent Honeyeater, Anthochaera phrygia — Regent Honeyeater, *Anthochaera phrygia*. Image: Jacky Lien
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Where do Regent Honeyeaters live?

Habitat

Eucalypt forests and woodlands, particularly in blossoming trees and mistletoe.

Distribution

South-eastern Australia.

Distribution data sourced from the Atlas of Living Australia

What do Regent Honeyeaters eat and how to they communicate?

Feeding and diet

Strongly nomadic, following flowering Eucalypts. It feeds mainly on nectar and other plant sugars, but will also feed on insects and spiders, and native and cultivated fruits. It forages in flowers or foliage, but sometimes comes down to the ground to bathe in puddles or pools, and may also hawk for insects on the wing.

Communication

Its call is quiet and melodious but it can also mimic larger honeyeaters.

Lewin's Honeyeater, Meliphaga lewinii — Lewin's Honeyeater, *Meliphaga lewinii*. Image: subhashc
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Are Regent Honeyeaters endangered?

Economic impacts

Regent Honeyeaters are Critically Endangered and are badly affected by land-clearing, with the clearance of nectar-producing trees and the poor health of many remnants, as well as competition for nectar from other honeyeaters.