FaunaHub
CRCritically EndangeredPartial review

Regent Honeyeater

Anthochaera phrygia

Regent honeyeater (Anthochaera phrygia), a black-and-yellow scaled songbird.

Regent honeyeater (Anthochaera phrygia).

Image: Krigore, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

At a glance

IUCN category
CR · Critically Endangered
Animal group
Birds
Population trend
Decreasing
Last verified

Conservation overview

The regent honeyeater is a striking black-and-yellow songbird of south-eastern Australia. It is assessed as Critically Endangered.

It feeds on nectar from flowering eucalypts and was once far more common.

Range & habitat

South-eastern Australia.

Major threats

Threats below are drawn from the authoritative sources listed on this page. For the current, complete assessment, see the IUCN Red List.

  • Loss of woodland habitat
  • A small, scattered population
  • Loss of song culture as numbers fall

Why it matters

A nectar-feeding bird whose decline has become so severe that young males are reportedly losing their song culture, the regent honeyeater is a stark symbol of Australia's woodland bird crisis.

Gallery

A regent honeyeater perched.

Regent honeyeater (Anthochaera phrygia), Australia.

Image: Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Sources

Sources for Regent Honeyeater

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are regent honeyeaters 'forgetting' their songs?
As the population has crashed, some young males reportedly grow up with too few adults to learn the species' song from, and may mimic other birds instead — a sign of how far numbers have fallen.
Why is the regent honeyeater Critically Endangered?
Published assessments cite the loss of its woodland habitat and a small, scattered population. See the IUCN Red List for the current assessment.

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