BREEDING SUCCESS AND NEST-SITE SELECTION OF THE REGENT HONEYEATER XANTHOMYZA-PHRYGIA NEAR ARMIDALE, NEW-SOUTH-WALES

The breeding success and nest site selection of the endangered Regent Honeyeater Xanthomyza phrygia were studied in the Bundarra-Barraba reg ion west of Armidale, New South Wales, between 1993 and 1997. Regent H oneyeaters nested in box-ironbark woodland in all years except 1994 wh en no nests were found, and also in riparian gallery forest in 1995. F ifty-one Regent Honeyeater nests were built at a mean height of 13.4 m , mainly in trees with rough bark and that averaged 18.6 m in height. Forty-one nests (80%) occurred in aggregations of between two and 11 n ests. The estimated population of Regent Honeyeaters in the Bundarra-B arraba region was 51, 101 and 64 in 1993, 1995 and 1996 respectively; these figures are higher than previous estimates. The Mayfield breedin g success was 38.3%, which is relatively high compared to other common Australian honeyeaters. It appears that factors other than poor repro ductive success are responsible for the current low population level o f Regent Honeyeaters in the Bundarra-Barraba region.