Yellow-throated miner

Appearance

The yellow-throated miner is a medium-sized bird, reaching a length of 26 to 28 centimetres. The dorsal surface is a dark grey, and the ventral surface almost white. The beak, eye skin, side of the throat, legs, feet and parts of the wing and tail are yellow. The feather surrounding the eye are black, and the rump is white.

Behavior

The yellow-throated miner inhabits dry forests, but can inhabit parks and backyards of disturbed habitat. It is a loud, and conspicuous bird, congregating in large flocks outside of the breeding season. Unlike most honeyeaters, its diet consists mostly of insects, but does include some nectar. They are aggressive towards other birds, especially during the breeding season.

The distribution of the yellow-throated miner is wide across Australia. It is found west of the Great Dividing Range, but not in the Cape York Peninsula, north-eastern Northern Territory and small sections in central Australia. There are four subspecies of the yellow-throated miner. These are "Manorina flavigula flavigula", "Manorina flavigula lutea", "Manorina flavigula obscura" and "Manorina flavigula wayensis". "M. f. flavigula" is the most eastern species, found in Queensland, New South Wales, north western Victoria and the eastern half of South Australia. "M. f. lutea" is native to the Northern Territory, the western half of South Australia, and eastern Western Australia. "M. f. obscura" is native to south-western Western Australia, and "M. f. wayensis" is native to the rest of Western Australia.

Habitat

The yellow-throated miner inhabits dry forests, but can inhabit parks and backyards of disturbed habitat. It is a loud, and conspicuous bird, congregating in large flocks outside of the breeding season. Unlike most honeyeaters, its diet consists mostly of insects, but does include some nectar. They are aggressive towards other birds, especially during the breeding season.

The distribution of the yellow-throated miner is wide across Australia. It is found west of the Great Dividing Range, but not in the Cape York Peninsula, north-eastern Northern Territory and small sections in central Australia. There are four subspecies of the yellow-throated miner. These are "Manorina flavigula flavigula", "Manorina flavigula lutea", "Manorina flavigula obscura" and "Manorina flavigula wayensis". "M. f. flavigula" is the most eastern species, found in Queensland, New South Wales, north western Victoria and the eastern half of South Australia. "M. f. lutea" is native to the Northern Territory, the western half of South Australia, and eastern Western Australia. "M. f. obscura" is native to south-western Western Australia, and "M. f. wayensis" is native to the rest of Western Australia.