Regent honeyeater conservation

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

• captive breeding and repopulation
• pest and weed management
• revegetation
• a citizen science tracking program.

Regent honeyeater facts

• Scientific name:Anthochaera phrygia
• Threat level: critically endangered; estimated to only be around 300 birds remaining in the wild
• Features and habitat: regent honeyeaters are shy birds with black, white and yellow markings who favour native blossom, especially the nectar of mistletoe, spotted gum, yellow box and ironbark  
• Known locations: patchy distribution with only 3 known breeding sites in NSW at Bundarra, Capertee Valley and Hunter Valley  
• The regent honeyeater is the only songbird in 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 250 to 350 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 noisy miner birds, possums, currawongs, ravens
• 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 regions, while the Northern Tablelands is investigating recent sightings of this seasonal migratory species. 

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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, Mudgee-Wollar area, Widden Valley, Pelaw Main and Quorrobolong, 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 migratory 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:

• two captive-bred releases in Tomalpin woodlands (Hunter Valley)
• 1 joint community field survey workshop 19 November 2024 along the Goulburn River (Murrumbo)
• 1 community field survey 3 September, Kitchener (Lower Hunter)
• 1 cultural burn in Tomalpin woodlands led by Mindaribba Local Aboriginal Land Council (Hunter)
• pest animal control works (Hunter and Central Tablelands)
• monitoring and assessment work in the Northern Tablelands
• 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
• spring and autumn revegetation works in Capertee Valley in partnership with BirdLife Southern NSW.

2025–26:

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

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
• 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.

Work underway

Work in the Hunterincludes:

• two captive-bred regent honeyeater releases supported in July 2024 at Tomalpin woodlands in partnership with Mindaribba Local Aboriginal Land Council (LALC), Taronga Park Zoo, 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 Tablelandsincludes:

• 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 Tablelandsincludes:

• monitoring work following reported sightings of migratory regent honeyeaters.

How to get involved

Find out how you can get involved in the project through education events and citizen scientist activities.

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.