Tiny honeyeater. Adult males have brilliant red coloration on the face and back; it also extends down onto the breast. The rest of the male’s breast and underparts are predominantly white; its wings and tail are black. Adult females are uniformly pale brown-gray with faint red on the face. Young birds are similar to adult females but have varying amounts of red. Take care not to confuse the plain female/young birds with other plain honeyeaters such as Brown Honeyeater and Dusky Honeyeater. Found in wetter parts of coastal eastern Australia; this includes forests at higher elevations and mangroves. Has a distinctive high-pitched song that is helpful to learn for identifying this species as it often feeds high in the canopy.