Swan river honeyeater, Western white-naped honeyeater
Gilbert's honeyeater (Melithreptus chloropsis ), also known as the Swan River honeyeater or western white-naped honeyeater, is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to southwestern Australia. A mid-sized honeyeater, it is olive-green above and white below, with a black head, nape and throat and a white patch over the eye and a white crescent-shaped patch on the nape. The bill is brownish-black and the eyes a dull red. The sexes have similar plumage.
A mid-sized honeyeater, Gilbert's honeyeater has olive-green upperparts and white underparts to the undertail. Both olive and white feathers have grey bases, which can be seen if the plumage is ruffled. White feathers on the flanks have dusky tips. It has a black head, nape and throat, a white patch over the eye, and a white crescent-shaped patch on the nape, which is thinner than that of other species. The bill is brownish-black and the eyes a dull red.
Within its range, its plumage is distinctive, rendering it unlikely to be confused with other species, apart from the related white-throated honeyeater (though this species are found much further north) or the Brown-headed honeyeater. Gilbert's honeyeater closely resembles the white-naped honeyeater; the plumage of the two is identical, except for the bare parts around the eye, which is pale-green to off-white in the former species, and red in the latter. Gilbert's honeyeater also has a longer bill and tarsus, and is slightly larger overall.
Gilbert's honeyeater is found in the southwest corner of Western Australia, where it ranges from Moora in the north, through the jarrah forest belt to Broomehill, the Stirling Range and along the coast to Stokes Inlet. It inhabits dry sclerophyll forests dominated by jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata ), karri (E. diversicolor ) or marri (Corymbia calophylla ) inland, tuart (E. gomphocephala ), flooded gum (E. rudis ) or narrow-leaved paperbark (Melaleuca laxiflora ) on the coastal plain, or wandoo (E. wandoo ) woodland. Gilbert's honeyeater is generally sedentary or locally nomadic; birds on the Swan Coastal Plain generally move little. The species has become less common on the Swan Coastal Plain, and has vanished from Kellerberrin.
Gilbert's honeyeater mainly forages in the foliage and flowers in the canopy of tall eucalypts, though at times it ventures into understory plants and on the bark of treetrunks. Fieldwork in Dryandra Woodland revealed that they foraged at an average height of 7.7 m above the ground. It mainly hunts arthropods, particularly insects, as well as nectar, manna, honeydew and lerp.
Breeding takes place across most of its range, with the breeding season taking place from September to February. The cup-shaped nests are located in the branches of trees, often hidden in foliage. The nests are usually made of bark fibres, rootlets and dry grasses at a height of up to 10 m above the ground. The clutch is of two, occasionally three, pale buff eggs marked with reddish-brown and grey spots and blotches, 18 x 14.4 mm in size. Eggs may be found from November to January; the incubation period is 14 days. The young are born naked with closed eyes (altricial), but are soon covered in down. They spend 14 days in the nest before fledging.
