Bell Miner

Like the Eastern Whipbird and many others, the Bell Miner, Manorina melanophrys, is almost always heard before it is seen. ‘Manorina’ is from the Greek for ‘large nostril’ and ‘melanophrys’ is for ‘black eyebrow’. The diagnostic ‘ping’, bell-like call of the Bell Miner often resonates throughout patches of eucalypt bush in our district and has inspired lines of poetry, particularly by early settlers – Bellbirds by Henry Kendall, 1869.

The Bell Miner, or just Bellbird, is a common honeyeater that feeds on lerp, the sugary coating of a tiny sap-sucking insect called a psyllid. Psyllids are closely related to aphids, whiteflies and scale insects.

Lerp and psyllid

Bell Miner feeding on lerp

Some references suggest that the Bell Miners have learned to ‘farm’ the psyllids: they take only the sweet lerp and leave the insect to continue with its sap-sucking and lerp production lifestyle. Also, like many honeyeater species, the Bell Miner is an aggressive bird and chases away others, including the insect-eating small canopy birds like pardalotes and thornbills that could help keep the psyllid population under control.

In this way, the psyllid numbers can build until the trees begin to lose their foliage. This can sometime happen to the degree that the trees begin to die and the phenomenon is known as Bell Miner associated dieback. (video).

Possible/probable Bell Miner associated dieback - Bellbird Park Drouin

Bell Miners are gregarious birds and are often present in large colonies. They are sedentary provided the psyllid food source remains. The psyllid population declines as the dieback takes hold. The birds then seek another source further afield. This may then allow the trees to recover.

Most ecologists say there isn’t much that can be done to combat Bell Miner associated dieback. One suggestion being that dense understorey is promoted to provide cover for smaller birds that ultimately might help control the psyllid infestation in the canopy.

With its pleasant ringing call, and its association with eucalypt dieback, the Bell Miner is something of an enigma in the bird world.