A pair of flittering, fluttering yellow-throated honeyeaters caught the golden rays of a late-afternoon sun. They resembled fireflies flying in zig-zag flight at tropical dusk, on wings that appeared translucent in the mellow, autumnal light.
The flight of the yellowthroats, though, was not a dance in silence. It had music, a musical, descending chortle, which I always call the sound of autumn. In the still air it reverberated between wattle and gum, cushioned by a carpet of leaves and dry grass.
The song followed me as I tramped the Pipeline Track below Ferntree. The yellowthroats remained out of sight in the forest canopy until they flashed over my head, spiralling and then rising to a high perch on a dead stringybark. From there they launched into flight and, training binoculars on them, I realised they were hawking flying insects – a snack before the sun had set behind kununyi/Mt Welington.
These species of honeyeater, found nowhere else on earth beyond Tasmania, carry a subtle beauty which is not often appreciated because of their high-life in the treetops. They are relatively large for honeyeaters, and can be identified by their moss-green feathers on their backs with grey on the head and undersides. What stands out – if they can be viewed close-up – is the striking yellow patch on their throats.
I always describe the yellowthroats as the Tasmanian birdwatchers’ secret. They are for private, intimate connection. While birders from the mainland seek out our more dramatic endemic species for their life-lists of birds spotted – like the black currawong, yellow wattlebird and the native-hen – the yellowthroats fly below the radar. They never appear a priority, although they are of such note locally they form the emblem of the Tasmanian branch of Birdlife Australia.
They have another source of fame. In spring, the yellowthroats can spring a surprise by landing on people’s heads to pluck hair for lining their nests. This behaviour probably started with Bennett’s wallabies as targets and the yellowthroats subsequently found humans a good source of nesting material, although the yellowthroats still gather wallaby fur.
The yellow-throated honeyeater is found across the state in a range of habitats, including wet and dry forests. The species’ status is secure, unlike another endemic family member – the strong-billed honeyeater – which is in sharp decline.
Along with hunting flying insects on warm, autumnal afternoons, the yellowthroats take a range of bugs, foraging on foliage, bark and flowers for both insects and pollen and nectar when it is available during the flowering season. They also feed on occasion on fruit, nuts and seeds. The birds also will visit orchards to peck at apples and pears.
Although common in gardens in the more leafy suburbs of Hobart, the yellowthroat remains in essence a bird of the forests where its beautiful plumage melds with bark and leaf.