| Western Spinebill | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Meliphagidae |
| Genus: | Acanthorhynchus |
| Species: | A. superciliosus |
| Binomial name | |
| Acanthorhynchus superciliosus Gould, 1837 |
|
The Western Spinebill, Acanthorhynchus superciliosus, is a honeyeater found in the heath and woodland of south-western Western Australia. It ranges between 12–15 centimetres (4.7–5.9 in) long,[2] and weighs around 10 grams (0.35 oz). It has a black head, gray back and wings, with a red band behind its neck and from its throat to its breast. There are white banks behind its bill and its eyes. It has a long slender curved bill.
Its contact call is a rapid high-pitched whistle, but when feeding it has a quieter whistle.
Like other honeyeaters, the Western Spinebill feeds on nectar. It tends to obtain its nectar from lower shrubs than most other honeyeaters, including Banksia, Dryandra, Grevillea, Adenanthos and Verticordia.[3] It also feeds from trees of Banksia and Eucalyptus, and from herbs such as Anigozanthos. In addition to nectar, it feeds on insects that it captures in the air or on plants.
It is a frequent visitor to Adenanthos obovatus, and its territories are smaller when they contain more Adenanthos obovatus bushes. Male spinebills often contest their territory borders with other males, and allow females to live within them. These territories range from 0.2 to 0.5 hectares in size. With their long curved bills, Western Spinebills are the only honeyeaters able to gain nectar out of the tube-like flowers.[4]
It breeds from September to January, in a nest made from bark, plant stems, down and spider web.[2] It lays 1–2 eggs,[2] usually incubated by the female.
According to early Australian settler George Fletcher Moore, the region's aboriginal people (the Noongar) called this species Buljit.[5]