| Honeyeaters | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Femalecrescent honeyeater (Phylidonyris pyrrhopterus) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Superfamily: | Meliphagoidea |
| Family: | Meliphagidae Vigors, 1825 |
| Genera[1] | |
See text | |
Thehoneyeaters are a large and diversefamily,Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes theAustralian chats,myzomelas,friarbirds,wattlebirds,miners andmelidectes. They are most common inAustralia andNew Guinea, and found also inNew Zealand, the Pacific islands as far east asSamoa andTonga, and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea known asWallacea.Bali, on the other side of theWallace Line, has a single species.[2][3]
In total, there are186 species in 55genera, roughly half of them native to Australia, many of the remainder occupying New Guinea.[4][5] With their closest relatives, theMaluridae (Australian fairy-wrens),Pardalotidae (pardalotes), andAcanthizidae (thornbills, Australian warblers, scrubwrens, etc.), they comprise the superfamilyMeliphagoidea and originated early in the evolutionary history of theoscinepasserine radiation.[6] Although honeyeaters look and behave very much like other nectar-feeding passerines around the world (such as thesunbirds andflowerpeckers), they are unrelated, and the similarities are the consequence ofconvergent evolution.
The extent of the evolutionary partnership between honeyeaters andAustralasian flowering plants is unknown, but probably substantial. A great many Australian plants are fertilized by honeyeaters viapollination, particularly theProteaceae,Myrtaceae, andEricaceae. It is known that the honeyeaters are important in New Zealand (seeAnthornis) as well, and assumed that the same applies in other areas.
Honeyeaters can be eithernectarivorous,insectivorous,frugivorous, or a combination of nectar- and insect-eating.[7] Unlike thehummingbirds 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. Many genera have a highly developed brush-tipped tongue, frayed and fringed with bristles which soak up liquids readily. The tongue is flicked rapidly and repeatedly into a flower, the uppermandible then compressing any liquid out when the bill is closed.
In addition to nectar, all or nearly all honeyeaters take insects and other small creatures, usually byhawking, sometimes bygleaning. A few of the larger species, notably thewhite-eared honeyeater, and thestrong-billed honeyeater ofTasmania, 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,[8] particularly in tropical rainforests and, oddly, in semi-arid scrubland. Thepainted honeyeater is amistletoe specialist. Most, however, exist on a diet of nectar supplemented by varying quantities of insects. In general, the honeyeaters with long, fine bills are more nectarivorous, the shorter-billed species less so, but even specialised nectar eaters like thespinebills take extra insects to add protein to their diet when 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 generaCleptornis (golden honeyeater) andApalopteron (Bonin honeyeater), formerly treated in the Meliphagidae, have recently been transferred to theZosteropidae on genetic evidence. The genusNotiomystis (New Zealand stitchbird), formerly classified in the Meliphagidae, has recently been removed to the newly erectedNotiomystidae of which it is the only member.[9] The "Macgregor's bird-of-paradise", historically considered abird-of-paradise (Paradisaeidae), was recently found to be a honeyeater.[10] It is now known as "MacGregor's honeyeater" and is classified in the Meliphagidae.
Thewattled smoky honeyeater (Melipotes carolae), described in 2007, had been discovered in December 2005 in theFoja Mountains ofPapua,Indonesia.[11]
In 2008, a study that included molecular phylogenetic analysis of museum specimens in the generaMoho andChaetoptila, both extinct genera endemic to the Hawaiian islands, argued that these five species were not members of the Meliphagidae and instead belong to their own distinct family, theMohoidae.[12]
