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Honeyeaters
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Eastern Spinebill, Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris

Eastern Spinebill, Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Meliphagidae
Vigors, 1825
Genera


The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family of small to medium sized birds most common in Australia and New Guinea, but also found in New Zealand, the Pacific islands as far east as Hawaii, and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea known as Wallacea. Bali, on the other side of the Wallace Line, has a single species.

Honeyeaters and the closely related Australian chats make up the family Meliphagidae. In total there are 182 species in 42 genera, roughly half of them native to Australia, many of the remainder occupying New Guinea. Like their closest relatives, the Maluridae (Australian wrens), Pardalotidae (pardalotes and thornbills), and Petroicidae (Australian robins), they originated as part of the great corvid radiation in Australia-New Guinea (which were joined in a single landmass until quite recent geological times).

Although honeyeaters look and behave very much like other nectar-feeding passerines around the world (such as the sunbirds and flowerpeckers), they are unrelated, and the similarities are the consequence of convergent evolution.

Unlike the hummingbirds of America, honeyeaters do not have extensive adaptations for hovering flight, though smaller members of the family do hover hummingbird-style to collect nectar from time to time. In general, honeyeaters prefer to flit quickly from perch to perch in the outer foliage, stretching up or sideways or hanging upside down at need. All genera have a highly developed brush-tipped tongue, longer in some species than others, frayed and fringed with bristles which soak up liquids readily. The tongue is flicked rapidly and repeatedly into a flower, the upper mandible then compressing any liquid out when the bill is closed.

The extent of the evolutionary partnership between honeyeaters and Australasian flowering plants is unknown, but probably substantial. A great many Australian plants are fertilised by honeyeaters, particularly the Proteacae, Myrtaceae, and Epacridacae. It is known that the honeyeaters are important in New Zealand as well, and assumed that the same applies in other areas.

In addition to nectar, all or nearly all honeyeaters take insects and other small creatures, usually by hawking, sometimes by gleaning. A few of the larger species, notably the White-eared Honeyeater, and the Strong-billed Honeyeater of Tasmania, probe under bark for insects and other morsels. Many species supplement their diets with a little fruit, and a small number eat considerable amounts of fruit, particularly in tropical rainforests and, oddly, in semi-arid scrubland. The Painted Honeyeater is a mistletoe specialist. Most, however, exist on a diet of nectar supplemented by varing quantities of insects. In general, the honeyeaters with long, fine bills are more nectarivous, the shorter-billed species less so, but even specialised nectar eaters like the spinebills take extra insects to add protein to their diet when they are breeding.

The movements of honeyeaters are poorly understood. Most are at least partially mobile but many movements seem to be local, possibly between favourite haunts as the conditions change. Fluctuations in local abundance are common, but the small number of definitely migratory honeyeater species aside, the reasons are yet to be discovered. Many follow the flowering of favourite food plants. Arid zone species appear to travel further and less predictably than those of the more fertile areas. It seems probable that no single explanation will emerge: the general rule for honeyeater movements is that there is no general rule.

The genus Apalopteron (Bonin Honeyeater), formerly treated in the Meliphagidae, has recently been transferred to the Zosteropidae on genetic evidence.

A new taxon of honeyeater, not yet described but apparently close to the Smoky Honeyeater, has been discovered in December 2005 in the Foja Mountains of Papua, Indonesia.[1]

Species of Meliphagidae (Part of the Meliphagoidea superfamily)

External links

A. tenuirostris

Binomial name
Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris
(Latham, 1802)

The Eastern Spinebill, Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris
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Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Chordata
Bateson, 1885

Typical Classes

See below

Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates.
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Aves
Linnaeus, 1758

Orders

About two dozen - see section below

Birds (class Aves) are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrate animals.
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Passeriformes
Linnaeus, 1758

Suborders
  • Acanthisitti
  • Tyranni
  • Passeri


A passerine is a bird of the giant order Passeriformes. More than half of all species of bird are passerines.
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Nicholas Aylward Vigors (1785 – October 26, 1840) was an Irish zoologist and politician.

Vigors was born at Old Leighlin, County Carlow. He studied at Trinity College, Oxford. He served in the army during the Peninsular War from 1809 to 1811.
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Anthochaera
Vigors & Horsfield, 1827

Species
  • Anthochaera carunculata
  • Anthochaera chrysoptera
  • Anthochaera paradoxa
  • Anthochaera lunulata


Wattlebirds
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Acanthagenys
Gould, 1838

Species: A. rufogularis

Binomial name
Acanthagenys rufogularis
Gould, 1838

The Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
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Plectorhyncha
Gould, 1838

Species: P. lanceolata

Binomial name
Plectorhyncha lanceolata
Gould, 1838


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Philemon
Vieillot, 1816

Species

Philemon buceroides
Philemon argenticeps
Philemon corniculatus
Philemon citreogularis

The friarbirds
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Xanthomyza
Swainson, 1837

Species: X. phrygia

Binomial name
Xanthomyza phrygia
(Shaw, 1794)

The Regent Honeyeater,
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Entomyzon
Swainson, 1825

Species: E. cyanotis

Binomial name
Entomyzon cyanotis
(Latham, 1802)

The Blue-faced Honeyeater (
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Manorina
Vieillot, 1818

Species
  • M. flavigula
  • M. melanocephala
  • M. melanophrys
  • M. melanotis


Manorina
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Xanthotis

Xanthotis is a genus of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It contains the following species:
  • Tawny-breasted Honeyeater (Xanthotis flaviventer)
  • Macleay Honeyeater (Xanthotis macleayanus)

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Lichenostomus
Cabanis, 1851

Species

Lichenostomus chrysops
Lichenostomus leucotis
Lichenostomus melanops
Lichenostomus penicillatus
...

Lichenostomus is a small genus of honeyeaters.
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Melithreptus

Melithreptus is a genus of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It contains the following species:
  • Black-headed Honeyeater (Melithreptus affinis)
  • Brown-headed Honeyeater (Melithreptus brevirostris)

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Notiomystis
Richmond, 1908

Species: N. cincta

Binomial name
Notiomystis cincta
(Du Bus de Gisignies, 1839)

The Stitchbird, or
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G. fallax

Binomial name
Glycichaera fallax
Salvadori, 1878

The Green-backed Honeyeater (Glycichaera fallax) is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family.
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Lichmera
Cabanis, 1851

Species

About 11, see text

Lichmera is a genus of bird in the Meliphagidae family.

It contains the following species:
  • Scaly-crowned Honeyeater (Lichmera lombokia)

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T. cockerelli

Binomial name
Trichodere cockerelli
(Gould, 1869)

The White-streaked Honeyeater (Trichodere cockerelli) is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family.
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G. picta

Binomial name
Grantiella picta
(Gould, 1838)

The Painted Honeyeater (Grantiella picta) is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family.
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Phylidonyris
Lesson, 1830

Species
  • Phylidonyris albifrons
  • Phylidonyris melanops
  • Phylidonyris novaehollandiae
  • Phylidonyris nigra
  • Phylidonyris pyrrhoptera


The genus
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Ramsayornis

Ramsayornis is a genus of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It contains the following species:
  • Bar-breasted Honeyeater (Ramsayornis fasciatus)
  • Brown-backed Honeyeater (Ramsayornis modestus)

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Conopophila

Conopophila is a genus of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It contains the following species:
  • Rufous-banded Honeyeater (Conopophila albogularis)
  • Rufous-throated Honeyeater (Conopophila rufogularis)

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Acanthorhynchus
Gould, 1837

Species
  • Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris
- Eastern Spinebill
  • Acanthorhynchus superciliosus -
Western Spinebill
Spinebill
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Certhionyx

Certhionyx is a genus of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It contains the following species:
  • Black Honeyeater (Certhionyx niger)
  • Banded Honeyeater (Certhionyx pectoralis)
  • Pied Honeyeater (

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Myzomela

Myzomela is a genus of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It contains the following species:
  • Mountain Myzomela (Myzomela adolphinae)
  • White-chinned Myzomela (Myzomela albigula)
  • Drab Myzomela (

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Anthornis
Gray, 1840

Species: A. melanura

Binomial name
Anthornis melanura
(Sparrman, 1786)

The New Zealand Bellbird (
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