Such busy birds, darting from one honey-filled flower to the next, and using their long curved beaks to suck out every little drop of honey. When there's no honey at hand, little bits of left over fruit are to their liking too. At times they don't mind sharing space with the sparrows, but their arch enemy - especially in spring time - is the Yellow Throated Honeyeater. Both species being rather aggressive and chasing each other at incredible speed. They often arrive with a partner, but once the fledglings arrive the whole family stick together for quite a while.  Took this photo when at least 5 were having a lovely dip in the birdbath. A very intense and joyful time, both for the birds and for us
bird-watchers! One after the other dives in and when they come out  a lot of shaking with a shower of water droplets flying everywhere. Their favorite flowers seems to be the Hebes, probably a lot of honey inside and they get really involved with half their head disappearing inside the flower. Got one lucky shot showing the beautiful  yellow patterned wing pattern when he flew away.
Yes, New Holland Honeyeaters are birds we love having around our garden.
[null, {"document_url": "http://birdobserversnortheast.blogspot.com/2012/08/new-holland-honeyeaters-from-annette.html", "unformatted_src": "http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yCdoV-_zepQ/UDQTvpnGN-I/AAAAAAAAALw/G-QNIvYgA24/s320/Bird+bath.jpg", "src": "http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yCdoV-_zepQ/UDQTvpnGN-I/AAAAAAAAALw/G-QNIvYgA24/s320/Bird+bath.jpg", "formatted_filename": "Bird bath", "rendered_width": 320, "rendered_height": 214}, null, {"document_url": "http://birdobserversnortheast.blogspot.com/2012/08/new-holland-honeyeaters-from-annette.html", "unformatted_src": "http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PVuvrOLT-Ow/UDQTxaKfh_I/AAAAAAAAAL4/2K11DAY382A/s320/Family+bathing+time.jpg", "src": "http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PVuvrOLT-Ow/UDQTxaKfh_I/AAAAAAAAAL4/2K11DAY382A/s320/Family+bathing+time.jpg", "formatted_filename": "Family bathing time", "rendered_width": 320, "rendered_height": 273}, null, {"document_url": "http://birdobserversnortheast.blogspot.com/2012/08/new-holland-honeyeaters-from-annette.html", "unformatted_src": "http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N0FNj_3Yq2I/UDQTzNFxMkI/AAAAAAAAAMA/eTzkDERYS-Y/s320/Feeding+on+Hebe.jpg", "src": "http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N0FNj_3Yq2I/UDQTzNFxMkI/AAAAAAAAAMA/eTzkDERYS-Y/s320/Feeding+on+Hebe.jpg", "formatted_filename": "Feeding on Hebe", "rendered_width": 320, "rendered_height": 240}, null, {"document_url": "http://birdobserversnortheast.blogspot.com/2012/08/new-holland-honeyeaters-from-annette.html", "unformatted_src": "http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KRXAWF9WkVE/UDQT4H0GJII/AAAAAAAAAMY/YYcWEaJb-Rk/s320/New+Holland+Honey+Eater.jpg", "src": "http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KRXAWF9WkVE/UDQT4H0GJII/AAAAAAAAAMY/YYcWEaJb-Rk/s320/New+Holland+Honey+Eater.jpg", "formatted_filename": "New Holland Honey Eater", "rendered_width": 320, "rendered_height": 240}, null, {"document_url": "http://birdobserversnortheast.blogspot.com/2012/08/new-holland-honeyeaters-from-annette.html", "unformatted_src": "http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xGvhUZ1W_8c/UDQT59m1hlI/AAAAAAAAAMg/YX9VdcChCM0/s320/New+Holland+Honeyeater+and+friend.jpg", "src": "http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xGvhUZ1W_8c/UDQT59m1hlI/AAAAAAAAAMg/YX9VdcChCM0/s320/New+Holland+Honeyeater+and+friend.jpg", "formatted_filename": "New Holland Honeyeater and friend", "rendered_width": 320, "rendered_height": 240}, {"document_url": "http://birdobserversnortheast.blogspot.com/2012/08/new-holland-honeyeaters-from-annette.html", "unformatted_src": "http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VOLOD71WD3Y/UDQT7Dy0hsI/AAAAAAAAAMo/fqbdjDgZ7yI/s320/New+Holland+Honeyeaters.jpg", "src": "http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VOLOD71WD3Y/UDQT7Dy0hsI/AAAAAAAAAMo/fqbdjDgZ7yI/s320/New+Holland+Honeyeaters.jpg", "formatted_filename": "New Holland Honeyeaters", "rendered_width": 312, "rendered_height": 320}, {"document_url": "http://birdobserversnortheast.blogspot.com/2012/08/new-holland-honeyeaters-from-annette.html", "unformatted_src": "http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fKWjfXJHyAA/UDQT8zMp06I/AAAAAAAAAMw/pK6VVKqQA3I/s320/Yellow+wing+feathers.jpg", "src": "http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fKWjfXJHyAA/UDQT8zMp06I/AAAAAAAAAMw/pK6VVKqQA3I/s320/Yellow+wing+feathers.jpg", "formatted_filename": "Yellow wing feathers", "rendered_width": 286, "rendered_height": 320}, null, null]