Pied honeyeater

Pied honeyeater
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Meliphagidae
Genus:	Certhionyx
Species:	C. variegatus
Binomial name
Certhionyx variegatus Lesson, 1830

The pied honeyeater (Certhionyx variegatus) is a species of bird in the family of honeyeaters Meliphagidae and the sole species in the genus Certhionyx (Christidis & Boles 2008). This species is also known as the black and white or western pied honeyeater.

It is endemic to Australia and is listed as a Vulnerable Species under Schedule 2 of the New South Wales (NSW) Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995.

Taxonomy

In 1999, taxonomists had placed pied honeyeater (Certhionyx variegatus), banded honeyeater (Cissomela pectoralis) and black honeyeater (Sugomel nigrum) in the genus Certhionyx, however DNA sequence data undertaken by Driskell and Christidis (2004), found that these species were not closely related. Current taxonomy places Certhionyx variegatus in the clade (or branch) grouped Acanthagenys in its own monotypic genus (Christidis & Boles 2008).

Description

The pied honeyeater has a long curved bill and a small pale-blue patch of bare skin below the eye which is semicircular in males and arc-shaped in females and juveniles. Males are black and white, having a black head, neck and upper parts, a white lower rump and upper tail, black wings with a white stripe, and white underparts with a black tipped tail. Females are brown above, with a grey-white chin and throat grading into a whitish breast streaked and spotted dark-brown, with the rest of the underparts white. The wings have a white stripe along the edges of the secondary feathers, and there is a black and white shoulder patch formed by black feathers edged with white.

Adult weight is approximately 27 grams making it a mid-sized honeyeater, body length is generally between 15 to 20 cm. and wingspan is between 25 and 29 cm. (eds Higgins et al. 2001). Wing morphology varies with the extent of seasonal movement in the Meliphagidae and the long pointed wing characterizing Certhionyx variegatus reflects movements which extend the length of the continent (Keast 1968).

The call of the pied honeyeater has been described as a “mournful whistle, resembling that of Megalurus gramineus” (little grassbird) (North 1909, p. 89). During breeding season it utters a “melancholy piping note” (Carter 1902b p. 127); a distinctive plaintive drawn-out piping te-titee-te-te or titee-te-te in flight or when perched (eds Higgins et al. 2001). A superficially similar honeyeater is the black honeyeater, (Sugomel nigrum), which was placed in the genus Certhionyx by Schodde in 1975, however following recent DNA testing it is now classified in a different clade of honeyeaters (Christidis & Boles 2008). The black honeyeater has a different call, is smaller, with a finer bill, shorter tail and lacks the bare eye patch. Males of this species also have a distinctive stripe down the center of the chest and abdomen, while females have plainer wings and less streaking on the breast (eds Higgins et al. 2001).

Distribution and habitat

In the early 1900’s this species was noted as occurring in New South Wales, South Australia, Central Australia and Western Australia, “widely distributed, principally over the southern half of the continent” (North, 1909 p. 88). Data mapping by Gannon (1962), shows occurrences primarily across central and western New South Wales, in an arc down the coastal fringes of Western Australia and some sightings in the arid interior and the eastern parts of South Australia.

More recent and comprehensive records from 1998 to 2014 for this highly mobile species, from the Birdlife Australia Atlas project 2014, indicate that the pied honeyeater is found principally in a band below approximately 18 ° S which extends roughly from central Queensland, central NSW and central Victoria in the east and across to the Western Australian coastline (Birdlife Australia 2014).

Movements

The pied honeyeater has been widely considered as nomadic and was categorized by Keast (1968) as a ‘desert nomad’. However, more recently it has been found to be both sedentary–resident and irruptive (eds Higgins et al. 2001), turning up occasionally in numbers far outside its “normal” range in tandem with heavy rains following drought periods (Burbridge & Fuller 2007).

Movements are poorly understood with no apparent pattern to occurrence or numbers in an area and limited knowledge of actual movements. Occurrences may coincide with the flowering of the emu-bush Eremophila (Gannon 1962; Keast 1968; Read 2008; Shelly et al. 2008) and perhaps the need to secure minimal breeding requirements via an abundance of insects (Keast 1968). Migration and seasonal movements occur (Birds Australia 2005a; eds Higgens et al. 2001; Keast 1968), particularly in coastal north-western Australia (North 1909). "The pied honeyeater is one of the commonest winter visitors, occurring in great numbers immediately after the first heavy rain” (Carter 1902). There are some instances of residency (Birds Australia, 2005b; eds Higgins et al. 2001), while occurrence has been seen to be irregular at the periphery of its range (Keast 1968; North 1909).

It appears to be largely independent in the use of free surface water; its distribution within the landscape, less consistent along gradients in relation to distance from water (Schneider & Griesser 2009).

Habitat

The pied honeyeater is found in the arid and semi-arid zones, on the sandhills of inland plains, inland ranges and granite outcrops (eds Higgins et al. 2001). It also occupies the coastal sandhills of north-western, Western Australia (Carter 1902b; North 1909). It is found mainly in shrublands and woodlands with the former dominated by emu bush Eremophila spp. and grevilleas (predominantly mulga) sometimes mixed with a scattering of Eucalyptus camaldulensis along watercourses (Keast 1968).
A variety of mallee habitats include tall mallee to open grassland with scattered trees (Casuarina, Myoporum), mallee shrubland, mallee woodland and mallee desert shrub with trees along dry watercourses and dry salt lakes (Keast 1968). Pied honeyeaters also habituate spinifex-dominated grasslands within scattered areas of mulga, Casuarina and bloodwood (eds Higgins et al. 2001; Keast 1969), the species of bloodwood observed being (Corymbia terminalis) (Mr G Chapman 2014, pers.comm., 17 October).

Behaviour

There is little known about the social organization and behavior of this species, in part due to its erratic movements and also that individuals are widely characterized as very nervous and always on the move (Shelly et al. 2008), very shy and ‘quick on the wing’ (MacGillivray 1910) and very timid (Burgess 1946; eds Higgins et al. 2001). It is often seen singly and in pairs however early Australian records note movements of pied honeyeaters in “constant” flocks, “flying against the wind ……in flocks at times of fifty or more” (Carter 1902, p. 84) and in larger flocks of several hundred (Higgins et al. 2001).

Seasonal flocks have been observed flying in the company of black honeyeaters (Sugomel nigrum), crimson chats (Epthianura tricolor), black-faced woodswallows (Artamus cinereus) and masked woodswallows (Artamus cinereus, A. personatus). It has been observed feeding in the company of black honeyeaters (S. nigrum), “greenies” (Ptilotis penicillata) and yellow-throated miners (Myzantha flavigula) in the Wyalla Lake area (MacGillivray 1910, p. 32)

Flight acrobatics are often noted. Breeding pairs fly into the air together and “literally loop and loop” (Burgess 1946, p. 392) and a male advertising territorial display will fly singing vertically into the air (Chapman, pers comm. 2014) in breeding display may fly “singing, into the air from the top of a tree, and suddenly drop(s), always turning over backward in its descent” (MacGillivray 1910). Its actions in the air appear similar to the black honeyeater (Burgess 1946), and its flight is said to resemble that of the critically endangered regent honeyeater (Anthochaera phrygia) (North 1909).

This species has been noted to spend considerable amounts of time on the ground or in dense lignum Muehlenbeclcia florulenta clumps with most associations being with birds of its own kind. It is rarely noted in any mixed flocks on Yapunyah Eucalyptus ochrophloia (Shelly et al. 2008).

There is little information on agonistic behavior however territorial calling and aerial displays by feigning of lameness or a broken wing if disturbed off a nest containing young (Carter 1902b; North, 1909).

Diet and foraging

The pied honeyeater feeds primarily on nectar, but also eats insects, fruit and seeds. It utilizes its long bill to explore flowers and foliage of trees and shrubs, especially Emu-bush (Eremophila) and a variety of eucalypts and grevilleas (eds Higgins et al. 2001; MacGillivray 1910). It has been observed feeding in flowering box (possibly black box (Eucalyptus largiflorens) (Environment & Heritage, 2011)), lignum (Muehlenbeckia cunninghammii), flowering turpentine, honeysuckle trees (Eremophila longifolia) and tobacco-bush (Nicotiana glauca) (MacGillivray, 1910). It also feeds in harlequin fuschia- bush (Eremophila duttonii) and turpentine (Eremophila sturtii), shrubs in seed but not in flower (Shelly et al. 2008). Stomach content analysis has revealed seeds (unidentified grape-like seeds, bits of berries), insects (Coleoptera, Lepidoptera larvae, ‘destructive’ insects, small caterpillars) and grit (Lea & Gray 1936, p. 264).

In the Australian desert the Meliphagidae are highly dependent on free water, with the pied honeyeater being classified as a ‘summer drinker’ and recorded drinking on more than half of the days on which temperature exceeds 25 degrees C. (Fisher et al. 1972)

Reproduction

June and the five following months constitute the usual breeding season of this species, nests with eggs being more frequently found in August and September (North 1909). However there have been examples of breeding in March in central and northern Australia, usually following heavy rains (Keast 1968).

Both sexes contribute with nest construction, incubation of eggs and caring for the young. Nests can be built and eggs laid within 3 days (Burgess 1946) and may be built in low shrubs or trees including (e.g. mulga, cork bark (Hakea lorea), sandlewood (genus Santalum)) or on top of thick creepers, generally about 122cm to 155cm above the ground (Carter 1902b; North 1909). The nest is generally an open, deep, saucer-shaped, well-made structure constructed from twigs or short grass stems (e.g. Spinifex) bound with spider-web, which may be placed on thin twigs at the end of a branch or at the junction of several thin horizontal leafy stems (Carter 1902b) suspended by the rim.

Egg sizes are approximately 1.65cm to 2.36cm in length. Shape varies from oval to rounded and elongate oval. The shell is close grained, smooth and usually lustreless with a dull white, greyish-white or creamy-white base colour, over which is evenly distributed freckles and spots of blackish-brown, with underlying markings of dull bluish-grey (North 1909).

Competition

There is limited information on competition and predation however the pied honeyeater is sometimes harassed in tree canopies by white-plumed honeyeaters (Lichenostomus penicillatus) and yellow-throated miners (Manorina flauigula) (Shelly et al. 2008). Diurnal avian predation would seem to be one of the primary selective pressures tending to restrict all but essential drinking in desert birds, primarily by the brown goshawk (Accipiter fasciatus), collared sparrowhawk (Accipiter cirrocephalus) and Australian hobby ('Falco longipennis) (Fisher et al. 1972). This may be a useful area for further research on the pied honeyeater.

Conservation

This species is distributed across relatively large areas and is subject to threatening processes that generally act at the landscape scale (e.g. habitat loss or degradation) rather than at distinct, definable locations. It is listed as vulnerable in NSW and the Department of Environment & Heritage is currently developing a targeted approach for managing such landscape species. Identified management actions include encouragement of the protection of rich nectar producing patches of woodland and shrubs from stock and goats, development of educational and promotional information to generate conservation interest and status assessments (Environment & Heritage 2013). A number of targeted management strategies for the pied honeyeater are also being implemented via the New South Wales Murray Biodiversity Management Plan (Murray Catchment Management Authority 2012).

The mobility of nomadic birds makes it difficult to gain a qualitative impression of population changes and while migrants and nomads may give the illusion of abundance as large flocks aggregate at rich patches of food, they are not spread evenly across the landscape and their total numbers are often fewer than appears.

Sources

• Birds Australia Western Australia 2005a, Birds of the Mingenew Shire, Birds Australia, Nov 2005.
  
• Birds Australia 2005b, Birdwatching around Kalbarri: Number 07a in a series of Bird Guides of Western Australia, Nov 2005, revised Sep 2009.

• Burbridge, A & Fuller P 2007, Gibson Desert birds: Responses to drought and plenty, Emu 107. 126–134.
  
• Carter, T 1902a, Exploration of the North-West Cape, Emu, pp. 77-84.
  
• Carter, T 1902b, North-western notes, Emu, pp. 126-128.
  
• Chapman, G 2014, Natural history photographer; Ornithologist. Pers comm. 17 October, 2014. http://www.graemechapman.com.au/index.php
  
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• Shelly, D, Baun, R & Kidd, S 2008, The importance of Yapunyah Eucalyptus ochrophloia as a food source for the Pied Honeyeater Certhionyx variegatus in Far West New South Wales, Australian Zoologist, vol. 34 no.4, pp. 561-3.
  
• Smith P, Pressey, R & Smith, J 1994, Birds of particular conservation concern in the Western Division of New South Wales, Biological Conservation, vol.69 no. 3, pp. 315-338.