Regent Honeyeater Anthochaera phrygia Scientific name definitions

20·4–24 cm; male 41–45·5 g, female 33–45 g. Distinctive, medium-large honeyeater with fairly heavy, decurved bill. Male is mostly black, with large patch of normally dirty yellow (rarely, with pink tinge or dusky pink) bare warty skin on lores and around eye, and bold pale yellow scalloping on upperbody (except upper mantle); inlinemedia black, pale yellow scaling on coverts, and three bold yellow panels, one on greater primary coverts, one on secondaries and one on outer primaries (in flight, pale yellow on inner webs of primaries also conspicuous); uppertail black with yellow sides and tip (in flight, appears yellow with broad black centre); breast and upper belly black with pale yellow to whitish chevrons , these small and sparse on upper breast and merging into broad and rounded scaling on lower breast and upper belly, which can appear largely pale yellow and finely scalloped black; rest of underbody pale yellow; underwing dark brown to black-brown, with pale yellow fringes of coverts and yellow outer edges at tips of remiges; undertail appears mostly yellow, undertail-coverts covering most of black base; iris dark red-brown; bill black, light grey-brown base of lower mandible, gape black to grey or pinkish; legs dark horn in front, pinkish behind. Female is similar to male but smaller, duller overall, with whole mantle black, upper breast more profusely marked yellow and not so black as male, and yellow of undertail duller; smaller patch of bare skin on face (still larger than on some young males), slightly shorter and less heavy bill. Juvenile is much duller than adult, dusky brown with small patch of grey to blue-grey bare facial skin (almost smooth, lacking warty texture of adult), cream suffusion on ear-coverts, cream scaling on rump and uppertail-coverts and cream belly and vent merging to pale yellow on undertail-coverts, wing much as adult but ground colour dark brown, and yellow panels duller and less obvious (yellowish-white and smaller on primary coverts, reduced to only one obvious brownish-yellow panel on folded wing), tail as adult but ground colour dark brown and yellow areas duller and often flecked brown, bill initially orange-yellow with brown tip of upper mandible, quickly becoming dark brown, gape orange-yellow and swollen, legs grey-brown; immature like adult female but duller, retains juvenile remiges, rectrices and some upperwing-coverts, which strongly contrast with rest of plumage, patch of bare facial skin smaller, smooth (develops warts at c. 9 months of age) and blue-grey, and gape fleshy and yellow at first.

Extremely patchy distribution in SE Australia from extreme SE Queensland (small numbers in most years) S through New South Wales (mainly on tablelands of Great Divide and N & C inland slopes and plains) to NE Victoria; extinct in South Australia. Throughout range, occasionally reported E or S of Great Divide in coastal and subcoastal districts.

Prefers dry sclerophyll box-ironbark Eucalyptus woodlands and forests on inland slopes, especially in moister sites along creeks, river valleys and lower slopes of foothills, and typically dominated by reliable nectar-producing trees including mugga (Eucalyptus sideroxylon), yellow box (Eucalyptus melliodora), white box (Eucalyptus albens) and yellow gum (Eucalyptus leucoxylon); also commonly in more open savanna-type woodland of such eucalypt species, or in remnants of such associations in cleared or partly cleared agricultural land. Of 168 observations of habitat across range, 80% were eucalypt woodland or dry sclerophyll forest. Less often in riparian casuarina forests dominated by river sheoak (Casuarina cunninghammiana), usually with heavy load of the mistletoe Amyema cambagei (and sometimes mixed with eucalypts), and in coastal or subcoastal eucalypt associations, mainly dry sclerophyll forests dominated by swamp mahogany (Eucalyptus robusta) and spotted gum (Eucalyptus maculata); and more rarely in other coastal associations such as riparian forest dominated by manna gum (Eucalyptus viminalis), low open eucalypt forest with heath understorey, or wet sclerophyll forest. Occasionally visits urban parks, gardens and reserves with mature or remnant Eucalyptus, and orchards; rarely, riparian shrubland of Callistemon and Leptsospermum, coastal heathland or shrubland, and mallee shrubland. Formerly occurred in dry sclerophyll forest and savanna woodland on ranges and lowland plains in W of range and dominated by combinations of yellow gum, peppermint box (Eucalyptus odorata), pink gum (Eucalyptus fasciculosa), river red gum and native pine.

Movements complex, poorly understood, and apparently largely governed by flowering of Eucalyptus species that produce large volumes of nectar. Suggested that this species may combine seasonal movements between regions with local movements. Detailed analyses reveal three main trends: movement into parts of N New South Wales and SE Queensland (formerly, also South Australia) in autumn, with contraction into core breeding areas on inland slopes of Great Divide in NW, CW & SW New South Wales in late winter and in NE Victoria in middle to late autumn; a corresponding movement out of S Victoria and highlands of SE Australia from late autumn to early spring; and regular use of sites with predictable annual peaks in nectar production. Recorded as leaving sites or moving with Philemon corniculatus. Most ringing recoveries or resightings are close to site of ringing, but some long-distance movements recorded, e.g. two adult males breeding at Canberra in Dec 1995 were resighted in Capertee Valley (258–269 km N) in Oct 1997 and Mar 1998 (one bred at both sites), and one adult moved 176 km in maximum of 20 days. Young may also disperse some distance, e.g. two nestlings and an adult male resighted 20 km NW of ringing site 19 days after young fledged, and one colour-ringed nestling that fledged in late Nov was recaptured 17 days later (and still being fed by parents) 3·4 km away. A few records beyond normal range, e.g. singletons near Eulo, in SW Queensland, Aug 1980, and at Mystic Park, in NW Victoria, Oct 1979.

Predominantly nectar, arthropods (mainly insects), and insect and plant exudates, such as manna, lerp and honeydew; occasionally fruit. Forages mainly among foliage and flowers in crowns of trees, especially <em>Eucalyptus</em> , less often at lower levels, including shrub layer, rarely on ground; sometimes on trunks and branches of trees, including beneath bark, or in air. Nectar taken from flowers by probing; insects taken mainly by sallying, but insects, and lerp, honeydew and manna, also gleaned from foliage, from bark of branches and trunks, and from ground. Proportion of time spent in foraging, and proportions in foraging for nectar and in seeking other food items, vary between locations and years: when nectar abundant tends to feed almost solely on flowering species, but when nectar scarce becomes more generalized and forages from a range of tree species and on variety of foods, including lerp and honeydew. From various studies, proportion of time spent in foraging 21–52%, and proportion of foraging time devoted to nectar 6·3–88% and to insects 2–25%; at site where nectar-feeding only 6·3%, much of rest of time (88%) was spent in feeding on lerp and honeydew. At three sites in New South Wales in non-breeding periods, birds spent similar proportions of time in foraging during morning, around midday and in afternoon, except at one site, where significantly less time in afternoon than in other two periods of day. In N New South Wales, in non-breeding season, concentrated on nectar and lerp and honeydew in morning, on insects and lerp and honeydew in middle of day, and on nectar again in afternoon. In breeding season, concentrated on nectar and lerp and honeydew in morning, and mainly on lerp and honeydew (but still with reasonable level of nectar-feeding) in middle of day. In two breeding seasons there was no significant difference in diet between males and females. Conspicuous and aggressive, especially when congregating at food. Active and acrobatic, climbing over thin branches to reach pendulous flowers, and hanging upside-down. Typically gregarious; forages singly, in pairs, or in small to large flocks of 3–50 birds (though individuals in flocks appear to prefer foraging in separate trees); sometimes with other species, e.g. A. carunculata. Often defends temporary feeding territories, e.g. one defended territory in flowering stand of mugga from other species, including conspecifics, Ptilotula penicillata, A. carunculata and Musk Lorikeets (Glossopsitta concinna).

Typically begins calling in morning some 10–15 minutes after most other species. In CE & S New South Wales, very vocal until start of incubation, vocalizing progressively less as nesting progresses; in NE vocalized little during breeding season but called much when in loose flocks in non-breeding periods. Song distinctive, described as a contact vocalization (and uttered often), consisting of soft and penetrating ringing, swelling, slurred syllables, slightly trilled, repeated 2–3 times, sometimes with bubbling quality, and with intricate variation in volume and interval; bill-snaps sometimes included in song. Other vocalizations include: single high-pitched, urgent trill, rising up scale and lasting less than 1 second; mewing, drawn-out single or double note; single-note "plick" or "plink" and variants; quiet bell-like call, consisting of single syllable repeated several times, "ding, ding, ding,..." or "whi, whi, whi"; and deep aggressive bark or harsh "chak" when defending roosting site or threatened. Also utters subsong. Mimics calls of larger meliphagid species when associating with them in non-breeding season (utters mimicry also when in non-breeding flocks of conspecifics), and occasionally mimics during breeding season; mimicry usually very close to that of model, but quieter; able to mimic almost whole repertoire of A. carunculata and A. chrysoptera, also individual calls of Philemon corniculatus, Philemon citreogularis, Olive-backed Oriole (Oriolus sagittatus), Grey Shrike-thrush (Colluricincla harmonica) and White-browed Babbler (Pomatostomus superciliosus). Bill-snapping during some displays and when chasing.

Mainly Sept–Nov but recorded in all months except Apr; in Capertee Valley (CE New South Wales) breeding may begin as early as Jul and continue to as late as Dec (in 1995 laying highly synchronized, in early Oct, but in 1996 and 1997 spread from early Aug to mid-Nov); timing varies significantly between regions in Victoria; seasonal patterns of breeding appear to correspond to regional patterns in flowering of key eucalypt and mistletoe species, and breeding effort also varies significantly between years; renesting after success or failure observed, but apparently not common. Nests as simple pair, partners remaining together for at least one season. Solitary or in small loose colonies or groupings; regularly colonial in Capertee Valley, possibly because population density greater than elsewhere. Female collects material and builds nest, male staying nearby, rarely both sexes collect material and build, work taking 4–9 days; nest an open, rounded, thick-walled cup made of combinations of strips or flakes of soft bark, coarse dry grass, casuarina needles or a few fine twigs, bound with spider web and sometimes cocoons, lined with fine material such as bark shreds, grass, rootlets, wool and hair, external diameter 10·1–12·7 cm, depth 5–6·4 cm, internal diameter 6·4 cm, depth 3·2–5 cm; placed 1–30 m (averages in different studies 11–14·5 m) above ground, usually in vertical fork or on horizontal or angled branch, sometimes supported by vertical twigs, typically in foliage close to edge of canopy (most commonly a near-horizontal limb where two or three smaller vertical branches shoot off), in crown of tall tree (mostly eucalypt or casuarina), sometimes in mistletoes, sometimes close to ground in sapling or shrub, occasionally in artificial site such as top of fence post or rafter of open shed; once built in old mud nest of Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca). Clutch usually 2 eggs, sometimes 3, mean in New South Wales (Capertee Valley) 2·2; incubation by female only, at one site sitting for average of 65% of daytime (average 5·5 bouts per hour), incubation period 12–15 days (mean 14 days); chicks brooded by female, fed by both sexes at about equal rates, male sometimes contributing more, nestling period 13–17 days (mean c. 16 days), but up to 21 days in wet weather; both sexes also feed fledglings, juveniles partly independent 2 weeks after leaving nest and fully independent c. 1 week later, or fully independent on average 27·6 days after fledging.

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED. Total population was estimated at 500–1500 individuals, within range smaller than 300,000 km², but probably <400 individuals remained in 2010 (4 Garnett, S. T., J. K. Szabo, and G. Dutson (2011). The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2010. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria, Australia. Close ). Thought to have a small and highly mobile population, and appears to have declined markedly and continues to do so. Formerly widespread in E & S Australia but range and numbers have contracted greatly, mainly as a result of loss, fragmentation and degradation of habitat. Declines probably began in c. 1940s, mainly following clearance and fragmentation of preferred high-quality habitat for agricultural purposes; degradation of remaining habitat through increased dieback and decline of trees in pastoral areas, lack of regeneration of Eucalyptus owing to grazing by livestock and rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), and silvicultural practices that promote dense pole regrowth of immature trees and remove large spreading trees, and removal of trees for fence posts, firewood and timber. Estimated c. 75% of original habitat has been cleared, particularly lowland habitat on most fertile and productive sites, resulting in poorer and unreliable supplies of nectar. Remnants, including much of what currently exists in the conservation reserve system, are highly fragmented and often degraded. Further, loss and degradation of habitat may have facilitated expansion of large aggressive honeyeaters, such as Philemon and Manorina, possibly resulting in interference with present species at food sources and nesting sites. In 19th century was recorded in large numbers, occasionally in very large flocks (even of thousands) during influxes. Very few current records of large flocks, e.g. largest one noted 1977–1985 was of 37 birds; and in New South Wales and Victoria, 1988–1990, 61% of observations were of 1–2 birds, and largest flock of 23 birds; larger flocks (32–151 birds) recorded 1994–1997. Range has also contracted, e.g. formerly recorded farther N in Queensland. In New South Wales, recorded less often and in smaller numbers than previously, although overall range appears not to have contracted greatly, but apparently now absent from Riverina. In Victoria, less common or vagrant in several regions where formerly regular, including coastal E & S Gippsland and parts of SC Victoria; not recorded around Bendigo (where formerly common) or W of there since late 1980s. Probably extinct in South Australia; last recorded in 1977 but formerly widespread and abundant in S, with most records around Adelaide and in Mt Lofty Ranges. Formerly caused much damage to orchards during irruptions. Recent conservation efforts focused on protecting and restoring habitat at sites regularly used by the species. Also, captive-breeding has produced some success: in 2008, 27 individuals of this species (all fitted with radio transmitters) were released in Chiltern National Park, in Victoria, and very soon thereafter one was observed next to a wild individual, the first seen in the park for 18 months.