Macleay's Honeyeater - Xanthotis macleayana

Daintree Rainforest Birdlife
photographed at Thylogale
by David & Diane Armbrust

Macleay's Honeyeater
Xanthotis macleayana

Size
18-21 Centimetres.

Nest
Neat cup of leaves, bark and fibre, bound with spiders web.

Eggs
Two, spotted pinkish-buff.

A very special friend.

"Stumpy " as I affectionately called her, turned up here one day about five years ago with a broken leg. I thought at the time that she would not survive as she continually drew the attention of predators to herself by her inability to perch quietly. She flew around with her foot dangling from a flap of skin for a number of weeks until it self amputated. During this time I gained her confidence to the extent of her landing on my hand and taking food from me.

From that point on our relationship blossomed and continued on a daily basis for the next 4 years. The only time I would not see her would be in the closing stages of the incubation of her eggs. Once the eggs hatched I would see her continually as she went about the business of feeding her chicks. It was always a special time for me when the young flew the nest and she brought them back to me to feed them directly out of my hand.

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