Scarlet Myzomela
Myzomela sanguinolenta
Also known as: Scarlet Honeyeater
About This Species
A small, active honeyeater of eastern Australian forests, woodlands and coastal heath, favouring flowering eucalypts, banksias and paperbarks where it probes blossoms for nectar and gleans insects from foliage. Males show a bright scarlet head and breast and often perch conspicuously at the top of a flowering tree to sing, while females are duller olive-grey. Best looked for in spring and summer when eucalypt and banksia flowering peaks, moving through the canopy in small, noisy groups.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Keep to paths and view from a distance with binoculars rather than approaching flowering trees directly, since repeated disturbance can push foraging birds away from a good nectar source.
- Native birds are protected under state wildlife legislation across Australia, which prohibits interference with birds or their nests; avoid approaching or handling any nest you find.
- A quiet, stationary vantage point near flowering trees usually brings the birds closer on their own.
LCAvesPasseriformesMeliphagidae
Seasonal Activity
172,627 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Meliphagidae
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.