[5] The pied honeyeater has a long curved bill and a small pale-blue patch of bare skin below the eye which is semicircular in males and arc-shaped in females and juveniles.

Males of this species also have a distinctive stripe down the center of the chest and abdomen, while females have plainer wings and less streaking on the breast.

[8] Data mapping by [Gannon, 1962] shows occurrences primarily across central and western NSW, the arid interior, and the eastern parts of South Australia.

Occurrences may coincide with the flowering of the emu-bush (Eremophila) [Gannon, 1962][7][11][Read, 2008], and perhaps the need to secure minimal breeding requirements via an abundance of insects.

[7] Pied honeyeaters also inhabit spinifex-dominated grasslands within scattered areas of mulga (Acacia aneura), Casuarina, and bloodwood (Corymbia terminalis).

[15][6][7] There is little known about the social organization and behaviour of this species, in part due to its erratic movements, and also because individuals are widely characterized as very nervous, always on the move,[11] very shy, "quick on the wing"[16] and very timid [Burgess, 1946].

However, territorial calling and aerial displays have been noted, while feigning of lameness or a broken wing, if disturbed off a nest containing young, has also been recorded.

It utilizes its long bill to explore flowers and foliage of trees and shrubs, especially Emu bush (e.g., Eremophila longifolia, E. sturtii), and various eucalypts (e.g., Eucalyptus largiflorens, E. ochrophloia), and Grevilleas.

[11] Stomach content analysis has revealed "grape-like" seeds, berries, grit, and insects and their larvae (e.g., Coleoptera and Lepidoptera).

[18] In the Australian desert, the Meliphagidae are highly dependent on free water, with the pied honeyeater being classified as a "summer drinker".

It has been recorded drinking on more than half of the days on which the temperature exceeded 25 degrees C.[19] June and the five following months constitute the usual breeding season of this species, nests with eggs being more frequently found in August and September.

[1] It has been seen to be subject to threatening processes that generally act at the landscape scale (e.g. habitat loss or degradation) rather than at distinct, definable locations.

[20] Identified management actions in the plan included encouragement of the protection of rich nectar-producing patches of woodland and shrubs from stock and goats, development of educational and promotional information to generate conservation interest and status assessments.