Phylidonyris novaehollandiae New Holland Honeyeater
Phylidonyris novaehollandiae (New Holland Honeyeater) is an exotic looking bird to me but it is actually quite common in Western Australia. They always seemed to be foraging in the hybrid garden Grevilleas and even if you couldn't see them their little eeee...eeee call told you they were there. They are pollinators in a country where there is competition for pollinators and so plants are commonly pollinated by birds as well as insects and even sometimes by small mammals. Because birds see red and orange colours as well if not better than blue and yellow it explains why, unlike the British Flora, there are many striking orange and red flowers in the Western Australian native flora.
The cylindrical orange/red flower on which the New Holland Honeyeater is feeding is Banksia menziesii (Firewood Banksia) and is one of many genera which rely upon birds like this to pollinate the flowers.
The name Phylidonyris novaehollandiae indicates that this was one of the first Australian birds to be studied and was actually named Certhia novaehollandiae in 1781. Until 1824 the country we now know as Australia was known as New Holland (hence the species name novaehollandiae). Australia was originally called New Holland by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman.
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| Phylidonyris novaehollandiae New Holland Honeyeater in in Wireless Hill park, Perth | Phylidonyris novaehollandiae New Holland Honeyeater in in garden |
Garden near Manjimup 11th August 2012 Wireless Hill Park, Perth, Western Australia 14th August 2012
Added on 23rd November 2014