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LITTLE FRIARBIRD FACTS |
Description
Friarbirds belong to the honeyeater group of birds and are characterised by bare grey skin around their face and head. Little Friarbirds are the smallest of the friarbirds and have the least bare skin on the face. They have grey-brown upperparts and pale grey underparts with greyish-blue bare skin around their eyes and cheeks. They also have a longish curved bill. Body size 25 to 29 cm.
Singularly, in pairs or small flocks. They commonly occur in the tops of flowering trees in the presence of other honeyeaters, which it often chases off. As well as nectar and fruits it also feeds on insects, sometimes hawking them while in flight. It can be quite noisy while feeding, uttering a jumbled squabbling call. Its variety of calls also includes a mellow 'che-weep, chewip, chewip, chee-will, chee-will'. The nest is a flimsy deep cup of twigs, bark, grass and spider webs. It lays 3 pink eggs with reddish, purplish and grey spots and blotches.
Author credit: Terry Mahney / Charles Darwin University
Habitat
Open forest and woodlands, well-timbered watercourses, swamps mangroves, gardens and orchards.
Food
Omnivore
Range
Northern and eastern Australia.
Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Species Description is from Museums Field Guide, Atlas of Living Australia at website at https://lists.ala.org.au Licensed under Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Classification
| Class: | Aves | | Order: | Passeriformes | | Family: | Meliphagidae | | Genus: | Philemon | | Species: | citreogularis | | Common Name: | Little Friarbird |
Relatives in same Genus
Helmeted Friarbird (P. buceroides)
Noisy Friarbird (P. corniculatus)
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