Wild Bird Wednesday 65 - Eastern Spinebill.

The Eastern Spinebill may be the closest I get to seeing a humming bird in a while.  A member of the large group of birds known as Honeyeaters, the Eastern Spinebill is not closely related to Hummers - but they are nectar sippers.

The garden of the house we stayed in at Lorne last week had a very active pair in the garden - and it times it seemed that there were more than two of these distinctive little birds darting from flower to flower.  The plants within the fenced vegetable garden seemed very popular - but they often could be seen snatching insects from fence posts.

At about 15 cm long and possessing a highly distinctive curved bill that adults are pretty hard to miss.  I hear this bird in the bushes around my house - it sounds like a squeaky wheel - but this was my first chance to get any picture of it.

Hovering Eastern Spinebill

Eastern Spinebill - with Silvereye 

For those of you missing the shoals and backwaters of taxonomy - this bird also goes by the name of Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris which refers to the birds thin bill (apparently!)

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