Noisy Miner
Manorina melanocephala
Noisy Miners live in complex, multi-tiered cooperative societies where 'helpers'—usually closely related males—assist breeding pairs in feeding and protecting the chicks.
- Scientific name
- Manorina melanocephala
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Passeriformes › Meliphagidae › Manorina
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- increasing
- Biome
- forest
- Habitat
- Open eucalypt forests, woodlands, agricultural edges, suburban parks, and urban gardens.
- Diet
- Nectar, insects, spiders, fruit, honeydew, and occasionally small reptiles.
- Range
- Eastern Australia, Southeastern Australia, Tasmania
- Size
- 24 to 28 cm in length, weighing approximately 70 to 80 grams.
- Lifespan
- 10 to 15 years
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Urbanization and habitat fragmentation (which paradoxically increases their preferred edge-habitats, allowing them to overpopulate and exclude other species).
- Safe to approach?
- Noisy Miners are defensive and highly territorial. During breeding season (July to December), they may swoop humans who get too close to their nests. If swooped, protect your head with a hat or umbrella, walk quickly away, and do not run or wave your arms. They are physically harmless but can be intimidating. If scratched, wash the area with soap and water.
The noisy miner ( Manorina melanocephala ) is a bird in the honeyeater family, Meliphagidae, and is endemic to eastern and southeastern Australia. This miner is a grey bird, with a black head, orange-yellow beak and feet, a distinctive yellow patch behind the eye, and white tips on the tail feathers. The Tasmanian subspecies has a more intense yellow panel in the wing, and a broader white tip to the tail. Males, females and juveniles are similar in...
Photo: Lip Kee Yap, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist
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