Black-eared Miner

The Black-eared Miner is a critically endangered honeyeater endemic to the mallee shrublands of southeastern Australia, closely resembling the Yellow-throated Miner but with a distinctive black ear patch. It requires dense, mature mallee eucalyptus habitat for survival and has suffered severe population decline due to land clearing and hybridization with the more common Yellow-throated Miner. It feeds on nectar, insects, and lerp from eucalyptus foliage.