Regent honeyeater conservation

This project focuses on preventing the extinction of regent honeyeaters through:  

• captive breeding and repopulation
• population monitoring and nest protection
• pest and weed management
• cultural burning
• revegetation
• a citizen science monitoring program.  

Regent honeyeater facts

• Scientific name: Anthochaera phrygia
• Threat level: critically endangered; estimated to only be 200 to 400 birds remaining in the wild
• Features and habitat: regent honeyeaters are medium-sized  birds with black, white and yellow markings who favour native blossom, especially the nectar of eucalypts – such as  spotted gum, white box, yellow box and ironbark – and mistletoe  
• Known locations: patchy distribution with only 3 key contemporary  breeding sites in the Capertee Valley, Upper Hunter Valley (Goulburn River) and Lower Hunter Valley (Cessnock)  
• The regent honeyeater is the only member of the honeyeater family that mimics other species  

Project background

Once a flocking bird that ranged from Victoria through to Queensland, the species is now concentrated in NSW and some border areas. With only an estimated 200 to 400 birds remaining in the wild, the collaboration to preserve and bolster the regent honeyeater population has never been more important.  

Key threats include:  

• bushfires destroying critical habitat and population numbers
• reduction of genetic diversity
• predator species such as possums, currawongs and ravens
• competitor species such as noisy miners
• land clearing, fragmented or modified landscapes in critical habitat areas
• climate change.

The regent honeyeater is a continuing focus in the Central Tablelands and Hunter LLS regions, which contain the most important contemporary breeding and wintering sites for the species. Northern Tablelands LLS has historically had migratory regent honeyeaters in the region and is investigating recent reports of sightings.  

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Video transcript

Regent Honeyeater ID – Help us find these critically endangered birds!

The Regent Honeyeater is a critically endangered songbird, one of the rarest birds in Australia. We think there's only 250 to 300 birds left. BirdLife Australia and partners are involved with the recovery of the bird, but to be able to effectively administer that recovery, we need to know where the birds are. We need people to help us find the birds. This is a bird that ranges from northeast Victoria right into southeast Queensland. With only 300 birds in that enormous area, we need as much help as we can to try and locate birds. 

There's only a handful of experienced observers that head out each year to monitor Regent Honeyeaters. But the bird can actually be found by anyone, as long as you are aware of some really major clues to look for in the environment. The first thing you need to do is to make sure you're in the right habitat. Regent Honeyeaters, very similar to koalas, have their favourite trees. In areas close to the coast, it's Spotted Gum and Swamp Mahogany, those trees generally flower in winter. 

Further inland, it's Yellow Box, White Box, and Mugga Ironbark. Regent Honeyeaters are also very fond of mistletoe when they're flowering. The best way of locating blossom is to use your ears because you will hear lorikeets and honeyeaters at a blossom event. 

When you track down that flowering tree, that's when you start your proper search for a Regent Honeyeater inside that flowering tree. The best thing to do, before you even get your binoculars out, is to just assess what is happening in that tree. Generally speaking, the larger honeyeaters like Noisy Friarbirds or Red Wattlebirds, they'll be trying to command the canopy of the tree. Smaller honeyeaters like Yellow Faced or Scarlets will be underneath them. 

Regent Honeyeaters are actually mid-sized between those smaller honeyeaters and the larger ones. So just standing back and looking for a bird that's in between the size of these smaller honeyeaters and the larger ones is a really great way of looking for Regent Honeyeaters, even before you use binoculars. 

So because Regent Honeyeaters are attracted to these flowering trees full of nectar-loving birds, there's going to be a cacophony of sound in these trees. So what you've got to do is hone your ear into the call of the Regent Honeyeater. It's actually quite a unique call. It's a bit of a soft chuckle with a bit of bill clapping thrown in. 

[sound of Regent Honeyeater bird call] 

Knowing the call of the Regent Honeyeater is so important that it's worth learning what it sounds like before you set off on your search. 

You can hear the call on the BirdLife Australia website or on various bird apps. There are many ways to familiarise yourself with what Regent Honeyeaters look like. But when they're actually in a flowering tree, what you've really got to look for is that dark head and the beautiful gold and black scalloping on the breast and those yellow edges to the tail. If your hard work has paid off and you've found a Regent Honeyeater, first of all congratulations, but we really need to know how many there are. 

So get a count of the birds, but we also have some birds out there that have colour bands on their legs. And so as part of our research, we really would love to know the colour band combinations of any banded bird you see. And the best way of seeing a colour band combination on any Regent Honeyeater is to get a photograph. 

Even if you didn't manage to get photographs, or the bird isn't carrying colour bands, that doesn't matter. The most important thing is that you need to report that bird. And you can do that by going to the BirdLife Australia website and finding an online form where you can report Regent Honeyeaters. By heading out and looking for Regent Honeyeaters, you're making a significant contribution to the recovery of this incredibly rare bird.

Project objectives

The regent honeyeater conservation projects aim to prevent extinction of regent honeyeaters and protect and improve their habitats.  

Project goals include:

• an increase in the number of successful nesting events within known breeding habitats
• captive-bred releases to increase regent honeyeater numbers
• supporting recovery efforts for future successful breeding events at selected work site habitats
• an increase in awareness and active community participation in restoration and monitoring activities.  

Project delivery

Local Land Services is working collaboratively across NSW with species experts, land managers and the community to preserve and increase regent honeyeater populations. Work is being delivered in the Capertee Valley, Goulburn River, Widden Valley, and Lower Hunter, which are known critical nesting and foraging areas for the species. 

Work includes:

• protecting and enhancing habitats, refuges, breeding sites and movement corridors  
• facilitating captive breeding and repopulation in the Hunter and Central Tablelands
• reducing threats to the species such as pests and weeds, including managing bushfire threats in Hunter and Central Tablelands
• implementing traditional land management practices, such as cultural burning, to restore and maintain critical regent honeyeater habitat
• monitoring and assessment for reported sightings of regent honeyeaters in the Northern Tablelands
• increasing critical foraging habitat through restoration works such as direct seeding of mistletoe and revegetation within known nesting habitats
• improving critical habitat areas through assisted natural regeneration and/or land management practice change activities
• providing conservation advice to the Australian Government National Recovery Plan for the Regent Honeyeater
• conducting community education activities
• hosting a regent honeyeater forum
• development of a citizen science monitoring program, including a BirdLife Australia reporting app.

Project timeline

2023–24:

• captive-bred release in Capertee Valley and post-release monitoring
• 1 community education event in the Lower Hunter.  

2024–25:  

• 1 captive-bred release in Tomalpin woodlands (Hunter Valley)
• cultural burns in Tomalpin woodlands
• mistletoe planting and primary weed control in Tomalpin woodlands
• nest detection and protection Upper Hunter
• National Regent Honeyeater Monitoring Program Hunter region

2025–26:  

• cultural burns in Tomalpin woodlands (Hunter)
• community education workshops
• annual National Regent Honeyeater Monitoring Program in partnership with Mindaribba Local Aboriginal Land Council (LALC), Australian National University, BirdLife Australia and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, including nest detection and protection works 

2026–27:

• community education workshops
• cultural burns in Tomalpin woodlands (Hunter)
• annual national regent honeyeater monitoring program in partnership with Australian National University, BirdLife Australia, Mindaribba Local Aboriginal Land Council and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, including nest detection and protection works
• regent honeyeater forum November 2026
• spring and autumn revegetation works in Capertee Valley in partnership with BirdLife Southern NSW.

2027–28:

• community education workshops
• autumn cultural burn in Tomalpin woodlands (Hunter)
• project close (June 2028) and outcomes reporting.

Captive release of zoo-bred birds will be made during the project lifetime at stages considered appropriate by the regent honeyeater recovery team, based on site condition. 

Work underway

Work in the Hunter includes:

• one captive-bred regent honeyeater release supported in July 2024 at Tomalpin woodlands in partnership with Mindaribba LALC, Taronga Conservation Society Australia, BirdLife Australia, Saving Our Species, NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
• two community education events and walking tours held in June and September 2024 at Werakata National Park, Pelton, and Poppet Head Park, Kitchener
• annual National Regent Honeyeater Monitoring Program completed for 2024
• pest animal control works completed November 2024
• joint Central Tablelands and Hunter LLS community field survey workshop held on 19 November 2024 about regent honeyeater and mistletoe identification
• nest detection and protection works completed early December 2024
• spring 2024 cultural burn led by Mindaribba LALC at Tomalpin woodlands.

Work in the Central Tablelands includes:

• prioritisation report completed to confirm species-specific actions during the project in the Capertee Valley and Mudgee-Wollar areas
• first 2 plantings of regent honeyeater habitat species completed comprising 20 types of trees and shrubs in the Capertee Valley and at Glen Davis
• contracts signed for nest detection and protection works
• annual National Regent Honeyeater Monitoring Program completed for 2024 along with nest detection and protection works  
• joint Central Tablelands and Hunter LLS community field survey workshop held 19 November 2024 about regent honeyeater and mistletoe identification
• plant identification walk and talk workshop held.

Work in the Northern Tablelands includes:

• monitoring surveys following reported sightings of regent honeyeaters.

How to get involved

Find out how you can get involved in the project through education events and citizen scientist activities. Find events and activities happening near you on the LLS regional Facebook pages for Central Tablelands, Hunter and Northern Tablelands.

Expressions of interest are open to participate in a 5-year citizen science monitoring program using a new regent honeyeater BirdLife app.

Register your interest

Funding and partnerships

This project is funded by the Australian Government Natural Heritage Trust and delivered by Local Land Services, a member of the Commonwealth Regional Delivery Partners panel. All outcomes for this project are recorded in MERIT for Central Tablelands, Hunter and Northern Tablelands.