Yellow-throated Miner

Identification

The yellow-throated miner's color and shape is very similar to the closely related noisy and black-eared miners. A medium-sized honeyeater, it reaches a total length of 22 to 28 centimetres (8.7–11.0 in), a wing length of 12–13.8 cm (4.7–5.4 in), and a bill length of 25 mm (0.9  in). Adult yellow-throated miners weigh between 50 g (1.8 oz)and 61 g (2.2 oz). Yellow-throated, black-eared and noisy miners share a dark grey dorsal surface with medium grey patterning on the feathers. Wings are dark grey with varying levels of yellow highlighting. The ventral feathering is light grey to white with light grey scalloping on the chest. The feathering surrounding the eye is black. The beak and bare skin-patch around the eyes are bright yellow, and the iris is brown. Legs are also yellow, though shade and brightness varies. Fledgling birds have undefined, fluffy light grey chests without scalloping. Immature birds can be identified in the hand by retained juvenile remiges and rectrices, which are more brownish. Yellow-throated miners are distinctive from the other miners by their clean white rump, instead of the continuous grey from the back that the noisy and black-eared miners have. The white-rump is clearly visible as yellow-throated miners are flying away, so this feature is often used in the field where two miner species overlap. Yellow-throated miners have a varying amount of yellow highlighting above and below the beak, on the forehead and chin, as well as on the sides of the throat. This differs from noisy miners which have white above the beak and no yellow highlighting on the forehead or neck, but can have a small amount of yellow on the chin. Yellow-throated miners have paler feathering on the lower jaw compared to the throat, while pure black-eared miners have darker feathering on the lower jaw compared to that of the throat. Hybrids between the yellow-throated and black-eared miners have a range of rump and lower jaw shades. The different races of yellow-throated miner have small color and size variation. M. f. obscura is known for being darker and M. f. lutea is yellower.

Taxonomy

In 1840, John Gould named the yellow-throated miner Manorina flavigula meaning 'thin-nostrilled, yellow-throated' bird. It belongs to the family of honeyeaters and Australian chats (Meliphagidae), which is part of the superfamily Meliphagoidea. The superfamily also comprises the Australian warblers, scrubwrens, and thornbills (Acanthizidae); bristlebirds (Dasyornithidae); fairy-wrens (Maluridae); and pardalotes (Pardalotidae).Yellow-throated miners share the genus Manorina with three other endemic Australian miners: the bell miner (M. melanophrys), the noisy miner (M. melanocephala), and the endangered black-eared miner (M. melanotis). The yellow-throated miner, black-eared miner, and noisy miner are very similar in appearance and were previously classified in the genus Myzantha, which is still sometimes listed as the subgenus for those species. From genetic analysis, the closest relatives to the genus Manorina are the New Guinea and New Britain Melidectes honeyeaters.<p>There are five subspecies of the yellow-throated miner: Manorina flavigula melvillenis (Mathews, 1912), Manorina flavigula lutea (Gould, 1840), Manorina flavigula wayensis (Mathews, 1912), Manorina flavigula flavigula (Gould, 1840), and Manorina flavigula obscura (Gould, 1841). M. f. lutea was called the luteous honeyeater, meaning golden or saffron yellow, by Gould, and was recognized as a separate species as recently as 1913. M. f. obscura was previously classified with the black-eared miner as the dusky miner, though the yellow-throated obscura subspecies does not overlap in range with the black-eared miner. One of the principal threats to the endangered black-eared miner is that they readily hybridize with yellow-throated miners where they co-exist, making some suggest that the black-eared miner should be considered a subspecies of the yellow-throated miner. However, further research has demonstrated that before dramatic alteration of the black-eared miner's preferred mallee habitat began around 1950, the two species had separable phenotypic characters, so they should be considered separate species.

Scientific name

Manorina flavigula

Authority

(Gould, 1840)

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Meliphagidae

Genus

Manorina

Range and habitat

The yellow-throated miner has the widest distribution of the Manorina species, and it is found across most of Australia, except east of the Great Dividing Range, on Cape York Peninsula, the very north-eastern Northern Territory, and small patches of the driest parts in Central Australia. M. f. wayensis has the largest distribution across the middle of Western Australia through to Western Queensland. M. f. flavigula is the easternmost sub-species, and covers most of Queensland except Cape York and the coast from South East Queensland south and extends south through New South Wales and inland Victoria. M. f. lutea extends across the northern parts of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. M. f. obscura occurs in south-western Western Australia . M. f. melvillenis is found in the very northern part of the Northern Territory.<p>Yellow-throated miners are primarily found in arid and semi-arid regions, but do extend into temperate, subtropical, and tropical areas. They are found in woodlands and scrublands, including acacia, eucalyptus, mallee, and casuarina. Similar to noisy miners they like edges and so adapt well to disturbed habitat, and can be found in regrowth and along roads or next to cleared lands. They like some undergrowth and recolonize restored habitat, but are rarely found in dense growth like mature mallee. Though they prefer some tree cover, yellow-throated miners will venture further into open areas like pastures than noisy miners will.

Migration

Resident species

Behavior

Migration pattern: Resident species.

Conservation

Population trend: stable.

Population trend

stable