Kimberley honeyeater
species of bird
The Kimberley honeyeater (Meliphaga fordiana) is a bird in the honeyeater family, Meliphagidae. It was formerly lumped with the white-lined honeyeater but, based on a genetic analysis, it is now considered a separate species. Articles published in 2014 and 2015 provided evidence that the Kimberley and white-lined honeyeaters differ not only genetically, but also in song and foraging ecology. The specific epithet honours the Australian chemist and ornithologist Dr Julian Ralph Ford (1932-1987).
Description
The Kimberley honeyeater is similar in appearance to the white-lined honeyeater, having dark grey upperparts, light grey underparts, grey eyes, with dark grey below the eyes and a black beak. It is distinguished from the white-lined honeyeater by the lack of citrine edging on the upper surface of the remiges and rectrices, pale creamy-buff under-wing coverts, and a milky-white belly.
Distribution
The Kimberley honeyeater is endemic to the Kimberley region of Western Australia, living in rainforests, eucalypt woodlands and paperbark forests.
It is present in the Charnley River–Artesian Range Wildlife Sanctuary, in the Kimberley region.
Breeding
The Kimberley honeyeater breeds from August to January. Two pinkish eggs, spotted red or brown, are laid in a deep nest made of spiderweb and plant fibres.
The public source identifies “Kimberley honeyeater” as species of bird. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Kimberley, honeyeater and species.
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Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2223763. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2014, 2015, 1932 and 1987.
Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Kimberley honeyeater” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.