White-eared Honeyeater Nesoptilotis / Lichenostomus leucotis

White-eared Honeyeater Nesoptilotis leucotis
(aka Lichenostomus leucotis)

White-eared Honeyeater, Murramarang NP, NSW, Australia, March 2006 - click for larger image

Australia
February / March 2006

The White-eared Honeyeater is distributed in eastern, southern and south-western Australia where it is found in forest, woodland and mallee scrub.

It feeds mainly on insects which it gleans from the branches and leaves of eucalypts in the main but it also feeds on nectar as well as the sweet sap that oozes out of eucalypt bark.

It has a black face and upper breast with a large white ear-patch. Upperparts are olive-green while underparts are olive-yellow. The immature, seen here in photos 4 and 5, has an olive-green crown and dark scalloping on the breast.

There are 3 sub-species: the nominate (photos 1 and 2); N. l. thomasi (photo 3) endemic to Kangaroo Island and with darker underparts; and N. l. novaenorciae (photos 4 and 5).

White-eared Honeyeater, Kangaroo Island, South Australia, March 2006 - click for larger image

Immature White-eared Honeyeater, Wyperfield, Victoria, Australia, February 2006 - click for larger image

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