Spiny-cheeked honeyeater

The spiny-cheeked honeyeater (Acanthogenys rufogularis) is native to the interior of Australia, living in scrubby and thinly-wooded areas and also mangroves.

Appearance

The bird is about 10 inches in length, with males and females having a similar appearance.

The upperparts are grey and brown, streaked with dark brown, and the underparts are yellowish streaked with brown. The rump is a lighter brown, and the wings and tail are brown with the latter having a white tip. The legs are slate grey.

There is a dark eyestripe and “moustache” and the ear coverts are white. The cheeks, with their spines, are yellowish-white. The eyes are blue. The bill is black at the tip and pink at the base, with the pink extending to underneath the eyes. The chin, throat and upper breast are a rich buff colour.

Behaviour and feeding

The spiny-cheeked honeyeater is a bold and quarrelsome bird. It has a call that is a clear “kwok” sound but there is also a much quieter “clik” when feeding and a musical trill. The male bird performs a soaring display flight and calls as it descends.

The diet of the spiny-cheeked honeyeater consists of nectar, fruit and berries, but not much honey!

Breeding

The breeding season is from August to late November. A nest will be built at a height of up to 50 feet, usually in the fork of a tree or in a mistletoe clump. It is made from grass and rootlets bound with cobwebs and lined with whatever soft material is available.

Two or three eggs are laid, which are incubated by the female alone. However, both birds attend to feeding the young.

© John Welford