Striped honeyeater
| Striped honeyeater | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Meliphagidae |
| Genus: |
Plectorhyncha Gould, 1838 |
| Species: | P. lanceolata |
| Binomial name | |
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Plectorhyncha lanceolata Gould, 1838 |
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| The distribution of the striped honeyeater Data from The Atlas of Living Australia |
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Data from The Atlas of Living Australia
The striped honeyeater (Plectorhyncha lanceolata) is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family, Meliphagidae, found in Australia. It is a medium-sized honeyeater, about 23 centimetres (9.1 in) in length. Both sexes are a light greyish brown with dark brown centres to the feathers, which give the appearance of stripes. The stripes are particularly distinct on the head and back of the neck. While it is found mainly in inland eastern Australia where it inhabits the drier open forests, it is also found in coastal swamp forests from south east Queensland to the central coast of New South Wales.
Although a honeyeater, the striped honeyeater relies on insects as its major food source, and its bill has been adapted to an insect diet. When not breeding it has been recorded feeding and travelling in small groups, but it nests singly, laying around three eggs in a deep cup-shaped nest suspended from the end of drooping branches. It is widely distributed and common within its range, thus the population is listed as being of least concern for conservation by the IUCN.
The striped honeyeater was first described by English ornithologist and bird artist, John Gould, in A Synopsis of the Birds of Australia and the Adjacent Islands, published in 1838. It is a member of the family Meliphagidae, the honeyeaters, and the sole member of the monotypic genus Plectorhyncha. Molecular studies indicate that genus is closely allied to the monotypic genus Grantiella, though dissimilar in appearance. The painted honeyeater (Grantiella picta) and the striped honeyeater are part of a subclade that includes also Philemon and Xanthotis.
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