Scientific Name: Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris

An attractively marked, tiny honeyeater with a long, downward curving beak for probing deep into long-throated flowers. The head is black with a conspicuous red eye. The neck is rust-brown fading to mid-brown on the lower back. By contrast the throat and upper breast are pure white and separated from the buff lower breast by a thin black line. In the centre of the throat is a bright reddish-brown patch. The wings and tail are black. Total length is only around 15cm.

Did You Know? Spinebills are the Australian equivalent of the American hummingbirds. They are active all day, almost without rest, to enable them to collect sufficient quantities of their high energy diet. Their tiny size also means they loose body heat very rapidly and must constantly replenish their energy stores to keep warm.

Habitat: Found in eastern Australia, coastally in the south, moving to the cooler tablelands in the north. These tiny birds rely on thick vegetation for protection and are common in heathland, scrub and rainforest margins.

Diet: The adult diet is primarily nectar, which is collected from flowers by the long beak and brush-like tongue. Chicks are raised almost exclusively on insects.

Reproduction: Two or three eggs are laid in a beautifully crafted cup-shaped nest of moss and cobwebs lined inside with soft hair and feathers to further protect the contents. It is usually situated in a shrub or bush within a few metres of the ground, hanging by its rim from several thin branches.