Black-headed Honeyeater (Melithreptus affinis) | Details

Black-headed Honeyeater Melithreptus affinis

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
Christidis, L. and Boles, W.E. 2008. Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Species attributes

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	15 g

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	131,000 km²
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	3.08 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as common (Morcombe 2000). The population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction.

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction.

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Australia	extant	native	yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Australia	Ben Lomond
Australia	Bruny Island
Australia	Central Flinders Island
Australia	Cradle Mountain
Australia	Douglas-Apsley
Australia	Hunter Island Group
Australia	King Island
Australia	Maria Island
Australia	Melaleuca to Birchs Inlet
Australia	North-west Tasmanian Coast
Australia	Robbins Passage and Boullanger Bay
Australia	South-east Tasmania

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Urban Areas	suitable	resident
Forest	Temperate	major	resident
Shrubland	Mediterranean-type Shrubby Vegetation	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Temperate	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 1270 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	(max) 1200 m

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Black-headed Honeyeater Melithreptus affinis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/black-headed-honeyeater-melithreptus-affinis on 23/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/12/2024.