This honeyeater occurs in eastern and southern mainland Australia. It is common in dry eucalypt forest and woodland, where it searches mainly for insects beneath bark and in crevices.
Adults have an olive-green back, paler green underparts, a grey cap, a black face and bib, and a contrasting white ear patch. The sexes look alike in plumage, but males are larger; young birds are duller and browner.
It mainly uses dry eucalypt forests and woodlands with a developed shrub layer. It probes beneath eucalypt bark and in crevices, feeding mostly on insects.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.