Patterns of Abundance and Movement of the Scarlet Honeyeater and Yellow-faced Honeyeater at Mangerton, a Suburb of Wollongong, New South Wales

Abstract

Numbers of Scarlet Honeyeaters Myzomela sanguinolenta and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters Lichenostomus chrysops were sampled opportunistically in a public reserve and adjacent residential area in Wollongong, New South Wales, from 1985 to 2003. Scarlet Honeyeaters were present in variable numbers during spring in at least 16 years of the 19 year-period. They arrived mostly in late August or September and stayed for varying periods of a few days in some years to a maximum of ~6 weeks in 1987. Birds were often seen in Turpentine trees Syncarpia glomulifera, mostly probing the blossoms. They were absent in summer, autumn and most of winter. Yellow-faced Honeyeaters were present in variable numbers in at least 18 years. Overall, they were recorded in all calendar months, with distinctive peaks in abundance in autumn and spring. The date of commencement of the northward autumn migration varied between late February in some years and early May in others. All records in February, March and April were of birds migrating northwards, whereas only 73% of birds counted in August, September and October were moving southwards. All records in the months of June and July and in the months of November, December and January comprised birds that exhibited sedentary behaviour.