White-plumed honeyeater
species of bird
The white-plumed honeyeater (Ptilotula penicillata, formerly Lichenostomus penicillatus) is a medium-sized passerine of the family Meliphagidae (honeyeaters) endemic to mainland Australia. Its key identifying characteristics are a primarily olive-grey body and yellow face, a slightly down-curved bill and its white distal neck-plumes from which it takes its name. White-Plumed Honeyeaters exhibit a preference for woodlands and riparian areas and have a very strong association with River Red Gums. They exhibit a small seasonal migration from ranges to lower areas in winter. Today the species is most commonly seen through Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales, but is also found in regions of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. They are often seen in gardens and backyards with vegetation cover.
Honeyeaters are most diverse group of passerine birds on continental Australia and the White-plumed honeyeater is one of the most common honeyeaters of urban areas throughout much of Australia.
Taxonomy
The first formal description of Ptilotula penicillata was by John Gould in 1837 who named it Lichenostomus penicillatus and placed it within the Ptilotula group within the Meliphagidae family. The Ptilotula group was then placed in the Lichenostomus genus by Richard Schodde in 1982 and which was supported by Leslie Christidis and Richard Schodde and other taxonomic studies in 1993 in light of new relations identified between species of the Meliphagidae family. Christidis and Schodde identified the subgroups ornatus, plumulus, fuscus, flavescens and penicillatus within this Ptilotula group.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q27075261. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1837, 1982 and 1993.
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This entry incorporates text from “White-plumed 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.