It is autumn again and the time for that wondrous experience of seeing the annual honeyeater migration.
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This event starts in the last week of March and continues until mid-May, during which time streams of birds head north.
The main entrant in this event is the Yellow-faced Honeyeater, which leaves its breeding territories in the high country of Victoria and southern NSW and heads to the northern winter-feeding grounds.
Not all birds migrate, making this species a partial migrant.
The Yellow-faced Honeyeater is probably the most common honeyeater heard in the local region.
It is a grey-brown bird with some broad streaking on the head and a paler belly with light streaking.
Its distinguishing feature is a yellow stripe, bordered with black, which runs from the curved bill to below the eye.
It is widely distributed in south eastern and north eastern Australia.
Honeyeaters feed on nectar, pollen, fruit, seeds, insects and their products.
They can be seen foraging in flowers and foliage of trees, shrubs and mistletoe and are rarely seen on the ground.
Not only Yellow-faced Honeyeaters are driven to make this journey but White-naped Honeyeaters, Spotted and Striated Pardolates, Red Wattlebirds, Noisy Friarbirds, Silvereyes and some Fantails also join in, often flying in mixed flocks.
Silvereyes, surprisingly, fly at night. Yellow-faced Honeyeaters make a single note contact call while flying, often the sound that makes you look up to witness this event.
The birds fly on fine weather mornings, but not when it is overcast, windy or raining, with the greatest numbers mid to late morning.
They fly in short hops at treetop level, resting frequently and regrouping in the most prominent trees, before taking off again.
Flocks can range from small groups of 10-50 birds to many hundreds in a 20-minute interval.
At Earthcare Park at Tenambit last week, over 500 birds were seen in 20 minutes and this is just the beginning of the migration.
The migratory path seems to take the birds north, along the eastern side of the Great Dividing Range.
In the spring their return is unobtrusive, with small numbers filtering back through the trees to the summer feeding and breeding sites.
In the next few weeks, look up on fine days and you might see this remarkable spectacle.
Hunter Bird Observer's Club website can be found at: http://www.hboc.org.au/ or follow us on Facebook @ Hunterbirding
