The crescent honeyeater is native to southeastern Australia. It has dark grey plumage and paler underparts, highlighted by yellow wing-patches and a broad, black crescent, outlined in white, down the sides of its breast. Two subspecies are recognized, with P. halmaturinus restricted in range to Kangaroo Island and the Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia. Its population numbers and distribution are sufficient for it to be listed as of Least Concern for conservation.
About Crescent honeyeater in brief
The crescent honeyeater is native to southeastern Australia. It has dark grey plumage and paler underparts, highlighted by yellow wing-patches and a broad, black crescent, outlined in white, down the sides of its breast. Two subspecies are recognized, with P. halmaturinus restricted in range to Kangaroo Island and the Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia. The female builds the nest and does most of the caring for the two to three young, which become independent within 40 days of laying its egg. The species exhibits slight sexual dimorphism, with the female being duller in colour than the male. Its population numbers and distribution are sufficient for it to be listed as of Least Concern for conservation. It is sexually dimorphic with a female with a paler version of the male, and the male is black with a clear crescent outlined in clear white. The male has a complex and variable song, which is heard throughout the year. The ancestor of the crescent Honeyeater diverged from the lineage giving rise to the white-streaked, New Holland and white-cheeked honeyeaters around 7. 5 million years ago. The bird is found in areas of dense vegetation including sclerophyll forest and alpine habitats, as well as heathland, and parks and gardens. It forms long-term pairs, and often stays committed to one breeding site for several years.
The parent birds use a range of anti-predator strategies, but nestlings can be taken by snakes, kookaburras, currawongs, or cats. A 2004 molecular study showed its close relatives to be the New Holland honeyeaters and thewhite-cheeksed honeyeating, the three forming the now small genus Phylidonyris. A 2017 genetic study using both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA found the white streaked honeyeatter to also lie within the clade. The crescent Honeyeater is a passerine bird of the honeyeator family Meliphagidae. The generic term comes from the French phylidonyre, which combines the names for a honeyiater and a sunbird. The specific epithet is derived from the Ancient Greek stems pyrrhos meaning ‘fire’ and pteron meaning ‘wing’, in reference to the yellow wing patches. It measures 14–17 centimetres in length, 16–23 centimetre, and it weighs about 16 grams in weight. The nominate form P. p. pyrrhopterus over most of its range; and P. halMaturinus, which is restricted to Kangaroo island and the Mount Lofty Ranges. The female is duller, olive-brown with faded yellow-brown wingpatches with less faded yellow feet, though less faded. White tips on the undertail are only visible in flight.
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This page is based on the article Crescent honeyeater published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 07, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
