New Holland Honeyeater jumping with joy
New Holland Honeyeater, with its tongue extended jumps to take off
Canon EOS R5 Mk II with a Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM Zoom [ISO 2000, 500mm, f/8.0 and 1/2500])
There is a regular group of New Holland Honeyeaters (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae) around our place in Narooma. They can be very territorial and chase away other species of honeyeaters, especially the Eastern Spinebills. Often, when I am in the backyard, all I hear is a whir of wings and a New Holland Honeyeater is flying past me chasing another bird or on some other errand that brings it close to me head. I really enjoy having these colourful birds around. One day in early January, I was able to capture this image of one of them as it launched off a fence. It has its tongue out, that is the straight object protruding from the bird’s beak. Honeyeaters have a tongue that is covered in delicate filaments that help it gather pollen and nectar. They are also great pollinators, normally with a good dusting of pollen on their head that they will take to the next plant. They also eat little invertebrates like insects, sometimes even taking them in the air.
