The noisy miner primarily inhabits dry, open eucalypt forest without understory shrubs. It is commonly found in open sclerophyll forests, including those on coastal dunes or granite outcrops; forests dominated by spotted gum on mountain ridges and exposed slopes; box and ironbark forests on the foothills of the Great Dividing Range; mixed forests of eucalypts and cypress (Callitris); forests dominated by yapunya, mulga, gidgee, brigalow or emu bush; in stands of belah and scattered clumps of boree; on the edges of woodlands of river red gum, including swamp woodlands bordering floodplains, and areas dominated by exotic species, such as European ash and willow. It regularly inhabits degraded patches of forest where the understory has been cleared, including recently burned areas, and modified habitats, such as lightly-timbered farming and grazing areas, roadside reserves, bushland remnants in towns and cities, and suburban parks and gardens with trees and grass, but without dense shrubbery.