In winter, it descends to lower forests including mangroves, and can sometimes be seen in more open habitats.

[10] The species name, frenatus, was proposed by Ramsay[4] from the Latin for bridle or reins referring to the markings on the face and base of bill.

[10] The bridled honeyeater is found in upland rainforest and wet eucalypt forest above an altitude of 300 metres in the Atherton region, north-east Queensland, Australia.

[11] The range extends from the Bloomfield-Mt Amos area south to Mt Spec.

[1] When trees are fruiting or flowering the honeyeater may gather in large, quarrelsome flocks but they are otherwise solitary and elusive.