Ptilotula fusca
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The fuscous honeyeater (Ptilotula fusca) is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is endemic to eastern Australia, where it inhabits subtropical and tropical dry forests. The fuscous honeyeater was previously placed in the genus Lichenostomus, but was moved to Ptilotula after a molecular phylogenetic analysis, published in 2011, showed that the original genus was polyphyletic.
The fuscous honeyeater is dull grey-brown to olive-brown above with buffy-grey underparts. The bill is black and the eye-ring dark. It has a small black and yellow plume formed by the rear edge of the ear coverts. Similar species include grey-fronted honeyeater, yellow-plumed honeyeater and white-plumed honeyeater.
They have numerous calls, notably a distinctive rollicking arig arig a taw taw, a clear flutey cheer tor cheer and an incessant chip contact call. Fuscous honeyeaters live in colonies in dry eucalypt forest and woodland, mostly inland of the Great Dividing Range, but in New South Wales and Queensland also in coastal heathy forest. They are sometimes also found in gardens, and in patches of remnant forest on farms.
They are mostly sedentary... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kosciuszko National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Booderee National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sydney | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Fuscous Honeyeater sighting in Royal National Park on a given day, based on 23 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 144th most-seen of the 178 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Fuscous Honeyeater in Royal National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June to April, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Fuscous Honeyeater sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Fuscous Honeyeater sightings, Royal National Park ranks 4th at under 5%. The best odds are in Kosciuszko National Park (Australia, about 10%), Booderee National Park (Australia, about 10%) and Grampians National Park (Australia, under 5%).
Same family: Meliphagidae
The closest relatives of the Fuscous Honeyeater that you can see in Royal National Park (family Meliphagidae, Honeyeaters) are Lewin's Honeyeater (about 60%), Little Wattlebird (about 60%) and Noisy Miner (about 60%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Fuscous Honeyeater is recorded against all the birds logged in Royal National Park (23 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
