Painted Honeyeater

The following image is a Painted Honeyeater photographed at Stony Creek NR (the ACT version, near Urriara Crossing) in early December.  It was hunting insects on the ground.

I have commented in my Gazette column about the excitement of finding Painted Honeyeaters in Hoskinstown.  Details from the COG database show that the birds were last present in the ACT in large numbers in 2003 with the last report being in 2003.

Taking a map from Birdata shows the normal range of the species to be more inland.

Zooming the list area to the ACT shows the distribution of more recent sightings.

I added the two red marks to show the current sightings at Urriara and Hoskinstown.

Adding to the importance of the Hoskinstown observations is the birds feeding young.  While some of the Urriara birds were nesting it appears that nest was abandoned for some reason and the chicks (if hatched) didn't fledge