Depicted on the west-facing wall of the former Empire Hotel is the Regent Honeyeater Anthochaera phrygia; one of Australia's rarest and most endangered birds, numbering fewer than 300 individuals at the time the mural was created. Once abundance in the dry woodlands from Adelaide through to north of Brisbane, it is now largely confined to they valleys surrounding the periphery of the Greater Blue Mountains.
The Tomalpin Woodlands, situated just a kilometre south of here, are one of the most important and regularly used sites for Regent Honeyeaters anywhere. Here, Regent Honeyeaters feed on the prolific blossom of the Spotted Gums in winter and will breed here when the ironbarks and Long-flowered Mistletoes are flowering in spring. These woodlands are unparalleled for their remarkable diversity of threatened flora, fauna, and ecological communities.
These woodlands are also culturally significant to the Wonnarua People; the original owners and knowledge-holders of the area. Overlooking the Tomalpin Woodlands is the flat-topped Mount Tumblebee, an important landmark and cultural site for the Wonnarua People.
In one specific spot the talons of the Regent Honey are cleverly seen to be grasping onto the telegraph pole.
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