Medium-sized honeyeater with long decurved bill, nomadic across arid and semi-arid inland Australia. Male black with white belly, wing patches, and tail panels; distinctive patch of blue skin beneath eye. Female and juvenile plain brown, with subtly patterned wings and faint speckles on chest. This species wanders in search of flowering shrubs and can be absent one year, common in large flocks the next. Much larger than Black Honeyeater (which has completely black upperparts). Calls include a slowly whistled phrase of several notes.