黑耳矿吸蜜鸟
Manorina melanotis· 吸蜜鸟科(3 photos)
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Black-eared Miner
25 cm. More uniformly grey from crown to rump than Noisy Miner. Absence of pale rump separates it from Yellow-throated; absence of pale tail tips helps separate it from both Yellow-throated and Noisy Miners. Pure Black-eared differs from Yellow-throated in se. Aust. as follows: black mask starts at bill, extends back under and over eye, and uniformly over ear-coverts; there is an obscure grey 'moustache-streak'. Small parties: fugitive; inspects intruder, calls complainingly, vanishes. Note range, habitat.
- Voice
- complaining 'pwee pwee pwee'; chuckling 'weedidit'; liquid notes. Alarm call: strident 'pee, pee, pee'.
- Habitat
- dense, tall unburned old mallee with understorey of spinifex; low flowering shrubs.
- Breeding
- Sept.-Oct.
- Nest
- untidy cup of twigs, grass, spiders' web, wool; in fork of leafy branch, 2-13 m high.
- Eggs
- 2-4; buff-white, pink; freckled, spotted, blotched red-brown, blue-grey, lilac.
- Range & Status
- small, local colonies in mallee region of nw. Vic., mostly Murray-Sunset NP; Murray mallee of SA, n. to Gluepot Station; also far sw. NSW. Sedentary; locally nomadic. Interbreeding with invasive Yellow-throated Miner is thought to have reduced pure-bred population, threatening the species' survival. Very rare. Endangered.
