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~New Holland Honeyeater~


~New Holland Honeyeater~
Photo Information
Copyright: Tina Sieben (gypsygirl58) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 101 W: 0 N: 138] (426)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-07-17
Categories: Birds
Camera: Pentax K100D, Sigma 55-200mm F4-5.6 DC
Exposure: f/6.7, 1/250 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2007-07-16 23:58
Viewed: 895
Points: 24
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
I took this photo of this Honeyeater enjoying the nectar of this Rosemary bush. I usually see a lot of these birds at this time of the year, they are such lovely colourful birds!

New Holland Honeyeater
Phylidonyris novaehollandiae
Description
The New Holland Honeyeater is 17-18.5 cm long. It is mostly black and white, with a large yellow wing patch and yellow sides on the tail. It has a small white ear patch, a thin white whisker at the base of the bill and a white eye. This honeyeater is an active bird, and rarely sits still long enough to give an extended view. The voice comprises a loud 'chik', a fainter 'pseet' and some chattering notes. If danger, such as a bird of prey approaches, a group of honeyeaters will join together and give a loud alarm call. Sexes are similar in looks, but females are slightly smaller in size. Young birds are browner and have a grey eye.
One very similar species is the White-cheeked Honeyeater, P. nigra. This species has a single large white cheek patch and a dark eye. The two species frequently occur together.

Distribution and Habitat
The New Holland Honeyeater is common in heath, forests, woodland and gardens, mainly where grevilleas and banksias are found. Its range extends throughout southern Australia, from about Brisbane, Queensland, to just north of Perth, Western Australia. It is inquisitive and approaches humans. It also mixes with other types of honeyeaters.

Food and Feeding
New Holland Honeyeaters are active feeders. They mostly eat the nectar of flowers, and busily dart from flower to flower in search of this high-energy food. Other food items include fruit, insects and spiders. Birds may feed alone, but normally gather in quite large groups. Most feeding takes place in lower areas of bushes and thickets.

Breeding
New Holland Honeyeaters breed at any time of the year, but most activity takes place in summer and winter. The cup-shaped nest is made of bark and grasses, bound together with spider web. It is lined with soft material and is placed in a bush or tree, anywhere from ground level up to 6 m. The two to three eggs hatch after about 18 days and the young leave the nest after a further 16 days. Both sexes feed the chicks. Owing to the long breeding season, a pair of adults may raise two or three broods in a year.
References
•Longmore, N.W. 1991. The Honeyeaters & their Allies of Australia. Angus and Robertson and The National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife, Sydney.
•Pizzey, G. & Knight, F. 1997. Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. Angus and Robertson, Sydney.
•Schodde, R. & Mason, I. 1999. The Directory of Australian Birds: Passerines. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria.
•Schodde, R. & Tideman, S.C. (eds) 1990. Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds (2nd Edition). Reader's Digest (Australia) Pty Ltd, Sydney.

PP Work:
RAW to JPEG
Cropped the image quite a bit
Altered the contrast and brightness levels a tad
Sharpened the image a tad

Thanks for looking and for your comments and critiques! Cheers Tina :-)
Argus, gracious, parthasarathi, JPlumb, deblink, CTP, angybone has marked this note useful
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To Finland_in_Eton: New Holland Honeyeatergypsygirl58 1 07-17 00:21
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Critiques [Translate]

What a pretty bird with all that black and white and those splashes of yellow. Lovely POV and well composed image. Nice amount of detail in the feathering, though there is a bit of loss in the darker areas and on the bright yellow on the wing... wish I had some advice to offer but I'm too much of a novice to have any suggestions. I like that startling light eye in the black face. All in all a very nice photo, TFS, Mish

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3824 W: 190 N: 11393] (35107)
  • [2007-07-17 1:07]

Hello Tina,
Nice capture of the New Holland Honeyeater, a bird that we saw when we were in Sydney almost two years ago. It is typical for this bird to be photographed with a busy BG, but as this shot it sharp it stands out quite well in this nice composition.
Thanks for sharing,
Regards, Ivan

Hello Tina,
Good exposure and focus on this Honeyeater!
good pov with sharpness and details
good composition and well seen
thanks for sharing
Tony

V.Good note and pic. Its dificult to click these birds with such sharpnes and details.

Hi Tina, nice shot of this Honeyeater. These birds aren't easy to shoot. I know I've only seen them twice, and they flit around quite a bit when I did see them. You have composed this one well in his natural environment. The shot is sharp and the colour is excellent.

Thanks, John

Hi Tina.
Wonderful capture of this bird, especially in amongst the bush. Your composition has made him stand out, yet still fit into a behaviour of him in his environment. Great detail.

Kathleen
New Zealand

Hi Tina,
Nice capture of this image of the Honeyeater. I have tried so many times to get an image but have fail to produce a good one. The POV and the birds surroundings are great. The quality of the image is also great, nice sharpness and the finer details of the bird can be seen well. Good one.
cheers,
Debbie

  • Great 
  • arfer Gold Star Critiquer [C: 2731 W: 0 N: 0] (0)
  • [2007-07-17 19:49]

Hello Tina

What a beautiful bird.It never ceases to amaze me how many different types of birds are in the world.The colours are excellent with very good plumage detail.Well focused.TFS

Rob

G'day Tina.
Great capture. Good sharpness and colour. Good tight composition. Very beautiful. Well done.
Cheers from Romania. Steve.

  • Great 
  • CTP Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 647 W: 6 N: 1106] (3191)
  • [2007-07-24 13:57]

Hello Tina,
Nice capture of a cute birdie.
I like your pov,bird's pose,colors,framing,note and composition.TFS
CT

Beautiful little bird - great colors here. Good capture of details.
Seems my theme lately is honey - - - Joey posted about the honey badger and honeyguide just the other day - another creature that fascinated me.

Great shot!!!

Hello Tina a fine looking bird well focussed and good pov nice closeness tfs rgds Necip

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