Eastern Spinebill

Taxobox
name = Eastern Spinebill
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1
status_ref= [IUCN2006|assessors=BirdLife International|year=2004|id=50831|title=Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris|downloaded=12 May 2006]
image_width = 250px


regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Passeriformes
familia = Meliphagidae
genus = "Acanthorhynchus"
species = "A. tenuirostris"
binomial = "Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris"
binomial_authority = (Latham, 1802)

The Eastern Spinebill, "Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris", is a species of honeyeater found in south-eastern Australia in forest and woodland areas, as well as gardens in urban areas of Sydney and Melbourne. It is around 15 cm long, and has a distinctive black, white and chestnut plumage, a red eye, and a long downcurved bill.

Taxonomy

Originally described as "Certhia tenuirostris" by ornithologist John Latham in 1802, [Latham, J. (1802). "Supplementum Indicis Ornithologici, sive Systematis Ornithologiae." London: G. Leigh, J. & S. Sotheby 74 pp. [36}] it is a member of the small genus "Acanthorhynchus" with one other, the Western Spinebill of Western Australia. The generic name is derived from the Greek translation of its common name, namely "acantho-"/ακανθο- "spine" and "rhynchos"/ρυνχος "bill".cite book | author = Liddell, Henry George and Robert Scott | year = 1980 | title = A Greek-English Lexicon (Abridged Edition) | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = United Kingdom | isbn= 0-19-910207-4] Its specific name is from Latin "tenuis" "narrow" and "rostrum" billed. It belongs to the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. More recently, DNA analysis has shown honeyeaters to be related to the Pardalotidae, and the Petroicidae (Australian robins) in a large corvid superfamily; some researchers considering all these families in a broadly defined Corvidae.

Description

13-16 cm (5-6 in) long, the male Eastern Spinebill has a long thin downcurved black bill with a black head, white throat with a reddish patch and red iris. It has a brownish-red nape, a grey brown back and pale cinnamon underparts. The dark tail is tipped with white laterally. Females and juveniles are smaller and duller. The call is a rapid piping. [cite book | author = Simpson K, Day N, Trusler P | title = Field Guide to the Birds of Australia | publisher = Viking O'Neil | date = 1993 | location = Ringwood, Victoria | pages = 392 | id = ISBN 0-670-90478-3]

Distribution and habitat

Eastern Spinebills are found in dry sclerophyll forest, scrub and heathland from the Cooktown area in North Queensland south through New South Wales east of the Great Dividing Range, through Victoria and into the Flinders Ranges in eastern South Australia as well as throughout Tasmania. Adaptable, they can be found in urban gardens with sufficient vegetation to act as cover and a food source.

Reproduction

Breeding season is from August to December, with one or two broods raised. The nest is a deep cup-shaped structure of grass and bark lined with feathers, generally in the fork of a small bushy tree or shrub. The clutch is 2-3 pinkish eggs with dark reddish brown blotches and spots 17 x 13 mm in size. [cite book | last = Beruldsen | first = G | title = Australian Birds: Their Nests and Eggs | publisher = self | date = 2003 | location = Kenmore Hills, Qld | pages = 327 | doi = | id = ISBN 0-646-42798-9]

Diet

The Eastern Spinebill feeds on nectar from many plants, including the blooms of gum trees, mistletoes "Amyema" spp., "Epacris longiflora", "Epacris impressa", "Correa reflexa", and various members of the Proteaceae such as "Banksia ericifolia",cite journal |last=Paton |first=D.C. |coauthors=V. Turner |year=1985 |title=Pollination of "Banksia ericifolia" Smith: Birds, mammals and insects as pollen vectors |journal=Australian Journal of Botany |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages= 271–286 |doi=10.1071/BT9850271] "Banksia integrifolia", "Lambertia formosa" and "Grevillea speciosa", as well as small insects and other invertebrates. A 1982 study in the New England National Park in North-eastern New South Wales found that there was a large influx of birds coinciding with the start of flowering of "Banksia spinulosa" there.Ford HA & Pursey JF. (1982)Status and feeding of the Eastern Spinebill "Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris" at the New England National Park, North-eastern NSW. "Emu" 82(4) 203 - 211] They have been known to feed from exotic plants such as Fuchsias. [cite web | authorlink = Australian Museum | author = Australian Museum | title = Bird Finder - Eastern Spinebill | work = Birds in Backyards | publisher = Australian Museum | date = 2006 | url = http://birdsinbackyards.net/finder/display.cfm?id=109 | accessdate = 2007-06-26]

References