Bell Miner

The Bell Miner is a small, olive-green honeyeater, closely related to the Noisy Miner but notably smaller and more uniformly colored, with a dark cap, an orange-yellow bill and legs, and a small patch of yellow bare skin near the eye. Its most distinctive feature by far is its voice: dense colonies produce an almost constant chorus of clear, high, bell-like "tink" notes that can be heard well before any bird is actually seen in the canopy.

Bell Miners live in large, tightly bonded colonies and have an unusual ecological relationship with psyllid insects (lerp), whose sugary coverings form a major part of the birds' diet; this relationship can, in some forest areas, contribute to a phenomenon known as bell miner associated dieback, where dense miner colonies suppress other insectivorous birds and allow psyllid populations to damage eucalypt canopies.

Key field marks

• Small size, olive-green plumage overall
• Dark cap and small patch of yellow bare skin near the eye
• Orange-yellow bill and legs
• Distinctive, constant high-pitched, bell-like "tink" calls from dense colonies

Similar species

• Noisy Miner: larger, greyer overall, with harsher chattering calls rather than bell-like tinkling.
• Other small olive-toned honeyeaters lack the Bell Miner's distinctive voice and colonial habits, which are usually the quickest way to confirm identification.

Habitat

Bell Miners favor dense, wet eucalypt forest with a well-developed shrubby understory, particularly areas with high populations of sap-sucking psyllid insects on eucalypt leaves.

Range

The species occurs along the east coast and ranges of Australia, from southeastern Queensland through New South Wales into eastern Victoria.

Migration

Sedentary, with resident colonies defending the same forest patch, sometimes for many years.

Behavior

Bell Miners live in large, complex, cooperatively breeding colonies that aggressively defend their territory against other bird species, a behavior that, combined with their reliance on lerp-producing insects, can allow psyllid populations to build up and contribute to canopy dieback in some forest areas.

Voice

The call is an almost continuous, high, clear, bell-like "tink" or "ting," repeated by many birds within a colony, creating a distinctive tinkling chorus audible well before the birds are seen.

Feeding

Diet centers on lerp (the sugary protective covering produced by psyllid insects) and honeydew, along with other small insects and some nectar.

Nesting and breeding

Nests are small cups built in dense shrubs or low tree foliage within the colony's territory. Clutches typically contain two to three pale, spotted eggs, incubated by the female, with numerous helper birds from the colony assisting in feeding chicks.