Foraging of Honeyeaters in an Area of Tasmanian Sclerophyll Forest

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Abstract
The foraging behavior of 4 spp. of honey eaters breeding in an area of sclerophyll forest near Hobart, Tasmania, was determined throughout the year. The yellow-throated [Lichenostomus flavicollis] and strong-billed honeyeaters [Melithreptus validirostris] are mainly insectivorous obtaining much of their food from bark. The black-headed honeyeater [M. affinis] is mainly insectivorous, foraging mostly in the foliage. The crescent honeyeater [Phylidonyris pyrrhoptera] is almost entirely insectivorous during the breeding season but takes much nectar during winter. A 5th spp., the eastern spinebill [Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris] is a winter visitor to the area whose presence coincides with the flowering of the heath Epacris impressa. Foraging behavior varies throughout the year and it is unjustified to extrapolate the results of short-term local determinations of foraging behavior to whole populations.