The blue-faced honeyeater was first described by ornithologist John Latham in his 1801 work, Supplementum Indicis Ornithologici, sive Systematis Ornithologiae.

[13] Molecular analysis has shown honeyeaters to be related to the Pardalotidae (pardalotes), Acanthizidae (Australian warblers, scrubwrens, thornbills, etc.

[20] It is called (minha) yeewi in Pakanh, where minha is a qualifier meaning 'meat' or 'animal', and (inh-)ewelmb in Uw Oykangand and Uw Olkola, where inh- is a qualifier meaning 'meat' or 'animal', in three aboriginal languages of central Cape York Peninsula[21] Three subspecies are recognised: A large honeyeater ranging from 26 to 32 cm (10 to 12.5 in) and averaging 29.5 cm (11.6 in) in length.

The upperparts, including mantle, back and wings, are a golden-olive colour, and the margins of the primary and secondary coverts a darker olive-brown, while the underparts are white.

Juveniles that have just fledged have grey head, chin, and central parts of their breasts, with brown upperparts, and otherwise white underparts.

[24] The blue-faced honeyeater begins its moult in October or November, starting with its primary flight feathers, replacing them by February.

[27] The record for longevity was a bird banded in May 1990 in Kingaroy in central Queensland, which was found dead on a road after 8 years and 3.5 months in September 1998, around 2 km (1.2 mi) away.

[17] The blue-faced honeyeater is found from the Kimberleys in northwestern Australia eastwards across the Top End and into Queensland, where it is found from Cape York south across the eastern and central parts of the state, roughly east of a line connecting Karumba, Blackall, Cunnamulla and Currawinya National Park.

It is also found in the Grampians region, particularly in the vicinity of Stawell, Ararat and St Arnaud, with rare reports from southwestern Victoria.

However, in many places (generally south of the Tropic of Capricorn), populations may be present or absent at different times of the year, although this appears to result from nomadic, rather than seasonal, migratory movements.

[27] Around Wellington in central New South Wales, birds were recorded over winter months,[34] and were more common in autumn around the Talbragar River.

[35] Birds were present all year round near Inverell in northern New South Wales, but noted to be flying eastwards from January to May, and westwards in June and July.

[36] In Jandowae in southeastern Queensland, birds were regularly recorded flying north and east from March to June, and returning south and west in July and August, and were absent from the area in spring and summer.

[17] The understory in eucalypt-dominated woodland, where the blue-faced honeyeater is found, is most commonly composed of grasses, such as Triodia, but sometimes it is made up of shrubs or small trees, such as grevilleas, paperbarks, wattles, Cooktown ironwood (Erythrophleum chlorostachys) or billygoat plum (Terminalia ferdinandiana).

Parents will dive at and harass intruders to drive them away from nest sites, including dogs, owls, goannas,[30] and even a nankeen night-heron (Nycticorax caledonicus).

The study concluded that conserved patches of woodland containing the two aggressive species should be larger than 20 ha (44 acres) to preserve diversity.

[18] A single bird was recorded aping and playing with an immature Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen) in Proserpine, Queensland.

[42] The parasite Anoncotaenia globata (a worldwide species not otherwise recorded from Australia) was isolated from a blue-faced honeyeater collected in North Queensland in 1916.

[18] They often renovate and use the old nests of other species, most commonly the grey-crowned babbler (Pomatostomus temporalis), but also the chestnut-crowned babbler (P. ruficeps), other honeyeaters, including noisy (Philemon corniculatus), little (P. citreogularis) and silver-crowned friarbirds (P. argenticeps), the noisy miner (Manorina melanocephala) and the red wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata), and artamids, such as the Australian magpie and butcherbird species, and even the magpie-lark.

[48] Like those of all passerines, the chicks are altricial; they are born blind and covered only by sparse tufts of brown down on their backs, shoulders and parts of the wings.

[51] In Kakadu National Park, birds prefer to hunt prey between the leaf bases of the screw palm (Pandanus spiralis).

[38] The remainder of their diet is made up of plant material, such as pollen, berries, and nectar, from such species as grasstrees (Xanthorrhoea) and scarlet gum (Eucalyptus phoenicea), and from cultivated crops, such as bananas or particularly grapes.

[51] Usually very inquisitive and friendly birds, they will often invade a campsite, searching for edible items, including fruit, insects, and remnants from containers of jam or honey, and milk is particularly favoured.