This was the first release of regent honeyeaters since a similar event in north-eastern Victoria. The generic name Anthochaera derives from the Ancient Greek anthos 'flower, bloom' and khairō 'enjoy'; the specific epithet phrygia derives from Latin phrygius, referring to the people of Phrygia who were skilled in embroidery with gold.[4]. Population modelling indicates a higher than 50% probability of extinction during the next 20 years, placing it among Australia’s most imperilled birds. The remaining population in Victoria and NSWis patchy, with little information available on the movement patterns of this highly mobile species. [7] As of June 2020[update] their range covers from north-east Victoria up to around the Sunshine Coast, Queensland,[8] but the population is now scattered. Regent Honeyeaters occur mainly in dry box ironbark open-forest and woodland areas inland of the Great Dividing Range, particularly favouring those on the wettest, most fertile soils, such as along creek flats and broad river valleys. This would warrant an uplisting of the Kangaroo Island sub-speices Stipiturus malachurus halmaturinus in the South Australian state government’s assessment from Near Threatened to Critically Endangered. An estimate of 500 to 1500 birds was suggested by Webster and Menkhorst (1992) based on surveys from 1988 to 1990 although the maximum number of birds they could account for at any time was far less than this. Under the criteria ofBirdLife International, the Regent Honeyeater also ranks as endangered because its population is between 250 and 2500 and it has undergone a major contraction in range. Only a few hundred regent honeyeaters are left in the wild, with fears the species could become extinct, but a conservation program has just released 20 birds, boosting the species' numbers. The regent honeyeater (Anthochaera phrygia) is a critically endangered bird endemic to southeastern Australia. Regent Honeyeaters occur mainly in dry box ironbark open-forest and woodland areas inland of the Great Dividing Range, particularly favouring those on the wettest, most fertile soils, such a… Although sample sizes were small, they include a substantial proportion of the regent honeyeater population; small sample size is an unavoidable consequence of … THE SPECIES. Efforts to save the Regent Honeyeater will also help to conserve remnant communities of other threatened or near threatened animals and plants, including the Swift Parrot, Superb Parrot, Brush-tailed Phascogale, Squirrel Glider and Painted Honeyeater. The Regent Honeyeater (Anthochaera phrygia), for example, is a critically endangered bird endemic to southeastern Australia. Each species account is written by leading ornithologists and provides detailed information on bird distribution, migration, habitat, diet, sounds, behavior, breeding, current population status, and conservation. [10], Most of these breeding sites were affected by the devastating 2019-2020 Australian bushfires, which will likely have an incredibly negative effect on the already-small wild population. As part of the 2017 Regent Honeyeater Captive Release and Community Monitoring Project, 101 captive bred Regent Honeyeaters were released; the fifth and largest release to date. A number of threats have worked to reduce the population of Regent Honeyeaters to the low level we currently have, including: Small population – it may seem a little back-to-front, but the effects of the following threats now mean the biggest threat to Regent Honeyeater survival is a small population size. The breast is covered with contrasting pale yellow speckles, and the feathers in the tail and wings are black and bright yellow. Once common throughout the south-east (including suburban Sydney and Melbourne), the population has crashed since the 1960’s due to extensive land clearing. Adults weigh 35 - 50 grams, are 20 - 24 cm long and have a wings-pan of 30 cm. “The Regent Honeyeater population has declined as a result of extensive habitat loss throughout its range, but much more drastically than other species. Today the Regent Honeyeater has become a 'flagship species' for conservation in the threatened box-ironbark forests of Victoria and NSW on which it depends. DNA analysis shows that its ancestry is in fact nested within the wattlebird genus Anthochaera. [9] In 1999 the three main breeding areas were the Bundarra-Barraba area and Capertee Valley of New South Wales, and north-eastern Victoria. King Edward Terrace They spend much of their time feeding on the nectar from eucalypts such as the Mugga Ironbark, White Box and Yellow Box, and Blakeley's Red Gum on which they are reliant. You can help Regent Honeyeaters and other woodland birds by: To find out more about saving your state's threatened species check out the Threatened Species Network web site at http://www.wwf.org.au/tsn/index.htm  or call the Network's National Office on (02) 9281 5515. [6], The regent honeyeater was once common in wooded areas of eastern Australia, especially along the inland slopes of the Great Dividing Range. With about 13 wild birds at the site, it was hoped that those released from captivity would breed with the wild ones and increase the population and diversity. Over 180 birds have been released previously (2008, 2010, 2013, and 2015). [5], Breeding mostly occurs from August to January, during the southern spring and summer. For example, at the time of European occupation roughly one million hectares of box-ironbark forest existed in Victoria. Due to expanding agriculture eighty-five percent of the box-ironbark woodlands, once extensively distributed across inland eastern Australia, have been cleared, making them one of the most threatened ecosystems in the country. There is also a male bias to the adult sex ratio, with an estimated 1.18 males per female. (2011). The Regent Honeyeater is a Critically Endangered bird endemic to Australia. In fact, in the early 1900s regents were sometimes the most common honeyeater in parts of the species’ range and, up until the 1960s, were even regular visitors to some Melbourne suburbs. [3] Habitat Requirements and Limiting Factors Regent Honeyeaters occur mainly in box-ironbark open-forests on the inland slopes of the Great Dividing Range. The Regent Honeyeater project aims to: increase the population of several threatened species in the Lurg Hills particularly the Regent Honeyeater, Grey Crowned Babbler, Squirrel Glider and Brush-tailed Phascogale; protect and restore all significant The ancestor of the regent honeyeater split from a lineage that gave rise to the red and yellow wattlebirds. The population of one of Australia’s most endangered species will be bolstered, with 20 conservation-bred regent honeyeaters released into the wild. The Regent Honeyeater, with its brilliant flashes of yellow embroidery, was once seen overhead in flocks of hundreds. The wild population of Regent Honeyeaters will swell by 20% this week when Taronga Zoo releases 77 of the critically endangered birds produced through its breeding program. Firewood collecting, which many people may see as 'tidying up' the forest, actually results in removal of dead trees and fallen timber crucial to the healthy survival of the forest ecosystem, of which the Regent Honeyeater is an integral part. The Regent Honeyeater might be confused with the smaller (16 cm - 18 cm) black and white White-fronted Honeyeater, Phylidonyris albifrons, but should be readily distinguished by its warty, yellowish eye skin, its strongly scalloped, rather than streaked, patterning, especially on … A spokesman for BirdLife Australia said this was indicative of the current drought conditions in northern New South Wales placing pressure on the birds to find more favourable food sources. “The combined impact has resulted in a significant decline in the Regent Honeyeater population. Two or three eggs are laid in a cup-shaped nest. It once could be found as far west as Adelaide, but is now gone from South Australia and western Victoria. Canberra ACT 2601 Groups of more than a dozen are rarely seen now, and there are perhaps only about … [2] It was known as Xanthomyza phrygia for many years, the genus erected by William John Swainson in 1837. Downloaded from, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, "Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird-names", "Conservationists push to save critically endangered regent honeyeater's only known breeding site from development", "Captive-bred regent honeyeaters successfully released in Hunter Valley, giving new hope for critically endangered species", "Regent Honeyeater (Xanthomyza phrygia) Recovery Plan 1999-2003", "Bushfires update: a message from BirdLife Australia", Regent honeyeater 'one step from extinction' sighted in Queensland, "Anthochaera phrygia — Regent Honeyeater", "National Recovery Plan for the Regent Honeyeater (Anthochaera phrygia)", "Released captive-bred regent honeyeater leads conservationists to wild Hunter Valley flock", "A description of the Australian birds in the collection of the Linnean Society; with an attempt at arranging them according to their natural affinities (Part 1)", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Regent_honeyeater&oldid=1000319622, IUCN Red List critically endangered species, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English, Articles containing potentially dated statements from June 2020, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Taxonbars with automatically added original combinations, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. The breeding population was previously estimated at 1,500 mature individuals, roughly equivalent to 2,200-2,300 individuals in total, but following very rapid declines there were thought to be just 350-400 mature individuals remaining in 2010 (Garnett et al. [13], The regent honeyeater is listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List,[1] and was listed as endangered under both Australia's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and Queensland's Nature Conservation Act 1992. Special dietary and habitat needs, in particular the Regent Honeyeater's nomadic lifestyle and reliance on a small area of favoured habitat within the remnants, has meant that these reductions in habitat are having a huge impact on the species. A total of 189 regent honeyeaters (108 wild-caught and 81 captive) were genotyped at 15 loci, 10 of which were polymorphic. This critically endangered songbird has lost important breeding habitat, especially in its Capertee Valley stronghold. This page was last edited on 14 January 2021, at 16:50. Local threatened species The Regent Honeyeater has been in decline since the 1940s, and its soft, metallic chiming call is rarely heard. The regent honeyeater is listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List, and was listed as endangered under both Australia's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and Queensland's Nature Conservation Act 1992. [11], A captive breeding program on a private property in the Hunter Valley released 20 birds – 11 female and 9 male – into the wild in June 2020. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. Originally found within 300km of the coast from Brisbane to Adelaide, the Regent Honeyeater is no longer found in South Australia and records from Queensland are now uncommon. The estimated population of Regent Honeyeaters in the Bundarra–Barraba region was 51, 101 and 64 in 1993, 1995 and 1996 respectively; these figures are higher than previous estimates. Important Bird Areas. GPO Box 858 Recent genetic research suggests it is closely related to the wattlebirds. Loss of their woodland habitat is the major threat to this species and to other woodland birds. Another of the birds was found and led the conservationists to a new flock of wild regent honeyeaters near Broke, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the release site, of which they had not previously been aware. You can also find out more information about Australia's threatened species by calling the Department of the Environment and Heritage's Community Information Unit on free call 1800 803 772, John Gorton Building The Regent Honeyeater feeds mainly on nectar from a small number of eucalypt species, acting as a pollinator for many flowering plants. Back to the question regarding the size of the Regent Honeyeater population. [18], Critically endangered Australian species of bird, BirdLife International. Much work was being done to ensure that the birds had sources of food, and most of the birds were fitted with tiny radio transmitters so that their movements could be tracked. [8] In August 2020, one of the banded birds was spotted and photographed at a Hunter Valley home, for the first time since her release two months earlier. It is estimated that the NSW population of Regent Honeyeaters may now be fewer than 250 mature individuals. In 2012, birds had been released in the same area from a Taronga Zoo breeding program. It contains around 5% of the world’s regent honeyeater population! I aim to identify factors that explain this disproportionate decline, in order to assist the conservation of the Regent Honeyeater … Regent honeyeater is classified as critically endangered (remaining population consists of less than 1.200 birds). [5] Nest success, and productivity of successful nests, has been found to be low in this species, with nest surveillance revealing high predation by a range of bird and arboreal mammal species. Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, Threatened species & ecological communities, Threatened species and ecological communities publications, Listed species and ecological community permits, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, © Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. [15], The bird was upgraded from Endangered to Critically Endangered nationally (under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999) on 9 July 2015. Regent Honeyeater. Promoting awareness of the Regent Honeyeater and its plight is also an important aspect of conservation measures. Today only twenty-five per cent of the original coverage remains, mostly on less fertile soils which are marginal habitat for this species. Regent honeyeaters were once commonly found as far north as Rockhampton in Queensland, in the Riverina region of NSW and the suburbs of Melbourne, but the population has decreased to about 350 birds Australia-wide due to the destruction of their habitat. Interesting Regent honeyeater Facts: Regent honeyeater can … The few remaining honeyeaters live along the east coast of Australia. See our advice and support. Originally found within 300km of the coast from Brisbane to Adelaide, the Regent Honeyeater is no longer found in South Australia and records from Queensland are now uncommon. Regent honeyeater. The global extent of occurrence (EOO) of the Regent Honeyeater was estimated as 300 000 km 2 in 2000, with a high level of confidence, with about 70% of its distribution falling in NSW. Many other plants and animals, such as those mentioned above, will benefit from efforts to save this species. Most sightings are from a few sites in north-eastern Victoria, along the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales and the central coast of New South Wales. 2011). Preservation of remaining habitat is the only way to prevent extinction of regent honeyeaters from the wild. Protecting remnant woodland in your community or on your land to help provide habitat for all our native animals, including the Regent Honeyeater; Leaving dead and fallen timber on the ground and avoid taking trees with hollows. With its small population size (<400) and massive range (>600,000 km2) finding this species, let alone studying it, presents a world of challenges. We are working to protect our agriculture and food industries, supply chains and environment during the COVID-19 outbreak. The little and western wattlebirds arose from another lineage that diverged earlier. 9. The Regent Honeyeater is a striking and distinctive, medium-sized, black and yellow honeyeater with a sturdy, curved bill. Distribution of the regent honeyeater, see file for more details. Exact historical numbers are hard to determine, but the regent honeyeater was once said to be common, with early accounts describing its numbers as “great” and “immense”.

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