Blue-Faced Honeyeater

ANIMAL:
Blue-Faced Honeyeater Entomyzon cyanotis

Type of Animal:
Songbird

Habitat:
Open forest, woodlands, monsoon forest, mangroves, coastal heathland, plantations, orchards, farmland, parks, gardens, golf courses, dry sclerophyll eucalyptus forest, mixed eucalypt-Pandanus stands, Pandanus thickets, paperbark areas, watercourses, rainforest

Location(s):
N & E Australia, S New Guinea, Aru Islands

Appearance:
Adults-bare blue skin around eyes, white belly/chest, blackish head/throat w/ white stripe around nape & other around cheek, mantle/back/wings golden-olive, margins of primary/secondary coverts darker olive brown, juveniles-gray head/chin/central breast areas, brownish upper body, white belly/chest, fledglings have yellowish facial skin, becoming greenish at 6 months, then turning darker blue, before getting adult facial patch at 16 months, wings broad w/ rounded tips, medium squarish tail, sturdy slightly downcurved bill.

Food/Diet:
Insects, insect larvae, nectar, fruit, pollen, honey, berries, banana crops, banana flowers, grape crops, spiders, small lizards, vegetables

Status in Wild:
Stable

Conservation:
Breeding in zoos, wildlife centers, & aviculture

Lifestyle:
Family flocks consist of breeding pair & 1-5 sets of offspring (each w/ 1-3 birds). Older offspring act as helpers for younger offspring. Larger flocks also seen. 

Additional Info:

Called:
Male: Cock
Female: Hen
Young: Chick
Group: Flock
 
Weight:
Male: 2.82-4.58 oz
Female: 2.95-4.04 oz

Gestation:
16 days 

Life Span:
8 years in wild, 16-20 years in captivity

Height:
Male: 12.71 in
Female: 10.24 in

Body Length:
Male: 12.71 in
Female: 10.24 in

Tail Length:
0.45 in, same for both sexes

Main predators of adults are raptors, dogs, cats, foxes, monitor lizards, crocodiles, & snakes. Night herons & kookaburras prey on chicks.
 
Usually use abandoned nests of other birds as foundations & renovate them for own needs.
 
Nests sometimes parasitized by Pacific Koel & Pallid Cuckoos (both cuckoo species). Honeyeaters act as host parents-often a honeyeater egg removed & replaced w/ cuckoo egg, which resemble honeyeater eggs. Koel chicks don’t attempt to kill foster siblings while Pallid chicks do. At the very least, they strongly outcompete them.
 
Early risers, often beginning noisy piping calls 30 minutes before sunrise. They’re diurnal.
 
Sexually mature at a year old.

Fun Fact(s):
Also called Bananabirds due to penchant for banana crops, often at expense of banana farmers.
 
Sometimes shot due to being crop/orchard pests.
 
Important pollinators, using long brushy tongue to obtain pollen/honey/nectar. Tongue can be extended 10 times a second.
 
Very bold, inquisitive, & often friendly birds, often invading campsites/gardens/orchards.
 
Can be aggressive towards other species as well as other flocks of honeyeaters, often chasing them away from food sources. Sometimes feed w/ other honeyeater species. Also known to mob/harass predators.
Blue-Faced Honeyeater, stock photo

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