CreatureData

Crescent honeyeater

Phylidonyris pyrrhopterus (Latham, 1801)

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The crescent honeyeater (Phylidonyris pyrrhopterus) is a species in the family Meliphagidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 14.6 g to 18.2 g and live up to 9.92 years. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Crescent honeyeater (Phylidonyris pyrrhopterus)
Photo: JJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the crescent honeyeater

Weight
14.6 g – 18.2 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
9.92 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Omnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
2.26src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
1 countrysrc for Countries on record

Where does the crescent honeyeater live?

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

The crescent honeyeater is listed for 1 country.

Australia
  • Listed
  • Not listed
small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same countries as a list

  1. Australia

Why a country list is not a range map

Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.

What is the crescent honeyeater?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The crescent honeyeater (Phylidonyris pyrrhopterus) is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to southeastern Australia. A member of the genus Phylidonyris, it is most closely related to the common New Holland honeyeater (P. novaehollandiae) and the white-cheeked honeyeater (P. niger). Two subspecies are recognized, with P. p. halmaturinus restricted in range to Kangaroo Island and the Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia.

It has dark grey plumage and paler underparts, highlighted by yellow wing-patches and a broad, black crescent, outlined in white, down the sides of its breast. The species exhibits slight sexual dimorphism, with the female being duller in colour than the male. Juvenile birds are similar to the female, though the yellow wing-patches of male nestlings can be easily distinguished.

The male has a complex and variable song, which is heard throughout the year. It sings from an exposed perch, and during the breeding season performs song flights. The crescent honeyeater is found in areas of dense vegetation including sclerophyll forest and alpine habitats, as well as heathland, and parks and gardens, where its diet is made up of nectar and invertebrates. It forms long-term pairs, and often stays committed to one breeding site for several years. The female builds the nest and does most of the caring for the two to three young, which become independent within 40 days of laying its egg.

The parent birds use a range of anti-predator strategies, but nestlings can be taken by snakes, kookaburras, currawongs, or cats. While the crescent honeyeater faces a number of threats, its population numbers and distribution are sufficient for it to be listed as of Least Concern for conservation.

From the Wikipedia article “Crescent honeyeater” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Crescent_honeyeater&oldid=1380254654), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the crescent honeyeater endangered?

The crescent honeyeater is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the crescent honeyeater classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyMeliphagidae
  6. genusPhylidonyris
  7. SpeciesPhylidonyris pyrrhopterus (Latham, 1801)

Synonyms Phylidonyris pyrrhoptera, Phylidonyris pyrrhoptera, Phylidonyris pyrrhoptera, Phylidonyris pyrrhoptera, Phylidornyris pyrrhoptera

Other names and names in other languages (28)
  • menjamel de mitja llunaCatalan
  • medosavka zlatokřídláCzech
  • Hvidbrystet HonningæderDanish
  • GoldflügelhonigfresserGerman
  • Goldflügel-HonigfresserGerman
  • lunarka mielmanĝuloEsperanto
  • Mielero alafuegoSpanish
  • liivimesikkoFinnish
  • Méliphage à croissantsFrench
  • olovastotrbi medojedCroatian
  • aranyszárnyú mézevőHungarian
  • Succiamiele semilunareItalian
  • ミカヅキキバネミツスイJapanese
  • geltonsparnis dryžasis medupaukštisLithuanian
  • GoudvleugelhoningeterDutch
  • stolahonningeterNorwegian
  • miodaczek złotoskrzydłyPolish
  • papa-mel-de-ferraduraPortuguese
  • papa-mel-d'asa-amarelaPortuguese
  • Златокрылый медолюбRussian
  • Золотокрылая медовкаRussian
  • medárik zlatokrídlySlovak
  • månbröstad honungsfågelSwedish
  • Kara Yakalı BalkuşuTurkish
  • медовка золотокрилаUkrainian
  • 冠澳吸蜜鳥Chinese
  • 月斑澳吸蜜鳥Chinese
  • 月斑澳蜜鸟Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the crescent honeyeater

Other species in the same genus Phylidonyris.

CompareCrescent honeyeater vs New Holland honeyeaterCrescent honeyeater vs White-cheeked honeyeater

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the crescent honeyeater?

An adult crescent honeyeater weighs 14.6 g – 18.2 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the crescent honeyeater live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the crescent honeyeater for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

Is the crescent honeyeater endangered?

The crescent honeyeater is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the crescent honeyeater live?

The crescent honeyeater has a recorded lifespan of 9.92 years.

What kind of animal is the crescent honeyeater?

The crescent honeyeater (Phylidonyris pyrrhopterus) belongs to the family Meliphagidae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Crescent honeyeater (Phylidonyris pyrrhopterus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/crescent-honeyeater

MLA

“Crescent honeyeater (Phylidonyris pyrrhopterus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/crescent-honeyeater.

BibTeX
@misc{crescent_honeyeater_2026,
  title = {Crescent honeyeater (Phylidonyris pyrrhopterus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/crescent-honeyeater},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}