Pied honeyeater
| Pied honeyeater | |
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| Pied honeyeater C. variagetus. Knight, R., 2009 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Meliphagidae |
| Genus: | Certhionyx |
| Species: | C. variegatus |
| Binomial name | |
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Certhionyx variegatus Lesson, 1830 |
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| Distribution of pied honeyeater | |
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 honeyeater 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.
In 1999, taxonomists had placed pied honeyeater (Certhionyx variegatus), banded honeyeater (Cissomela pectoralis) and black honeyeater (Sugomel nigrum) in the genus Certhionyx, however revised DNA analysis indicates that these species are not closely related (Driskell & Christidis (2004). Christidis and Boles placed the pied honeyeater in the clade Acanthagenys in its own monotypic genus.
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, a whitish breast streaked and spotted dark-brown, white underparts and white stripe along the edges of the secondary wing feathers.
Adult weight is approximately 27 grams making it a mid-sized honeyeater, body length is generally between 15 and 20 cm. and wingspan is between 25 and 29 cm. (eds Higgins et al. 2001). 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).
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