The black-eared miner (Manorina melanotis) is an endangered honeyeater endemic to mallee woodland in south-eastern Australia.
Taxonomy
Manorina melanotis was identified by Francis Erasmus Wilson in 1911.[2] It is closely related to the much more widely distributed yellow-throated minerM. flavigula, and the taxonomic status of the black-eared miner is the subject of some controversy, with some researchers considering it a subspecies of M. flavigula.[3]
Behaviour
Black-eared miners are co-operative breeders, living in colonies during the breeding season, and dispersing into the bush during non-breeding periods. Little is known of their movements during these periods.[3]
In 2022, it was reported that the species had been interbreeding with the yellow-throated miner.[4]
Yellow-throated miner (right) and black-eared miner × yellow-throated miner hybrid (left). Recent contact of black-earned miner and yellow-throated miner populations is due to human impacts on mallee habitat[6]
Black-eared miners' survival became threatened by habitat clearance to make way for agriculture, and the bird experienced competition from goats, rabbits, kangaroos, and other herbivores, which then had access to water which they had not previously had.[4] The species was assessed as "probably Australia's rarest and most endangered bird" in 2016 by ornithologist John McLaughlin,[7] while a 2018 study ranked it as the 10th bird at most risk of extinction.[8]
As of 2022[update], there remain around 200 colonies, with up to 20 birds within each colony. Interbreeding with the yellow-throated miner has affected the genetic integrity of the black-eared miner, which adds to the risk to their population.[4]
Victoria: Listed as "Threatened" by the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act (1988), as of October 2021, and as "endangered" on the 2007 advisory list of threatened vertebrate fauna.[9][10] Under this Act, an Action Statement for the recovery and future management of this species has been prepared.[11][2]
Conservation measures
In July 2022, it was announced that AUD$125,000 has been dedicated to protect the black-eared miner. The Australian Government has provided the funding to the Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board (MRLB) and their partners for the project.[12] As part of the project, researchers will do genetic testing of birds in the 200 populations.[4]
^Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment (2007). Advisory List of Threatened Vertebrate Fauna in Victoria – 2007. East Melbourne: Department of Sustainability and Environment. p. 15. ISBN978-1-74208-039-0.