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  1. Species
  2. ›
  3. Meliphagidae
  4. ›
  5. Conopophila
  6. ›
  7. Rufous-banded Honeyeater
Rufous-banded Honeyeater
Photo · (c) Jesse de Vries, some rights reserved (CC BY)

BirdUp · Species

Rufous-banded Honeyeater

Conopophila albogularis(Gould, 1843)

Updated 21 March 2026

Origin: Native
Order
PASSERIFORMES
Family
Meliphagidae
Genus
Conopophila

At a glance

The Rufous-banded Honeyeater is a tiny bird, about 12–15 cm long, native to Australia. It can be seen year-round.

Size
12–15 cm
Origin
Native
Best seen
Year-round
Commonness
Very common
  • Identification
  • Where
  • When
  • Behaviour
  • Gallery

01 · Identification

How to tell it apart

What does a Rufous-banded Honeyeater look like?

The Rufous-banded Honeyeater is a tiny bird, about 12–15 cm long and weighing 8–15 g.

The rufous-banded honeyeater is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is found in the Aru Islands, New Guinea and northern Australia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. The rufous-banded honeyeater is considered one of the most common small birds in the suburban ecosystem of Darwin, Australia, notable because its lack of introduced bird species. It is also native to Queensland, Australia. Ornithologist F. Salomonsen recognized two subspecies of rufous-banded honeyeater, Conopophila albogularis and Conopophila mimikae but J. Ford disagreed with this subspeciation.

Description · wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Field specs

Length
12–15 cm
Weight
8–14.5 g

Measurements · avonet · CC BY 4.0

03 · When

When to look

When can you see a Rufous-banded Honeyeater?

The Rufous-banded Honeyeater is present across its Australian range year-round, so it can be seen in any month.

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

05 · Behaviour

Habits and haunts

What does a Rufous-banded Honeyeater eat?

The Rufous-banded Honeyeater feeds on nectar/pollen and terrestrial invertebrates, usually foraging in pairs or flocks.

06 · Gallery

Plumage up close

3 photos

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02 · Where

Where to find it

Where does the Rufous-banded Honeyeater live in Australia?

The Rufous-banded Honeyeater is native to Australia, recorded across 17 of Australia’s bioregions.

BreedingAru Is. (south-west of New Guinea), south-central and north-east and south-east New Guinea, and north NT to north Cape York Pen., north-east QLD (north-central and north-east Australia)

Distribution from BirdUp Australia community data

Legend

  • Vagrant
  • Resident
  • Non-breeding

5 regions recorded