The Tawny-breasted Honeyeater occurs on New Guinea and nearby islands and in northeastern Australia. It uses forest, mangroves and edges, locally to about 1,500 m.
Medium-sized, it has a gray head and throat, brown-olive upperparts and tawny underparts. A curved white line around the eye and a strong, slightly downturned black bill are distinctive.
It eats mainly insects such as beetles, as well as nectar and fruit, especially figs. It forages at different tree levels but often uses the upper canopy.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.