View source for Honeyeater

{{Short description|Family of birds}}
{{For|the Southern Asian birds formerly known as honeyeaters|Sunbird|}}{{For|the general consumption of honey by animals|Mellivory}}{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Honeyeaters
| image = Crescent Honeyeater Edit2.jpg
| image_caption = Female [[crescent honeyeater]] (''Phylidonyris pyrrhopterus'')
| taxon = Meliphagidae
| authority = [[Nicholas Aylward Vigors|Vigors]], 1825
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision_ref = <ref>Sibley, C.G. and Monroe, B.L. Jr. (1990). ''Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World.'' New Haven: Yale University Press. {{ISBN|0-300-04969-2}}.</ref>
| subdivision = See text
}}

The '''honeyeaters''' are a large and diverse [[family (biology)|family]], '''Meliphagidae''', of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the [[Epthianura|Australian chats]], [[myzomela]]s, [[friarbird]]s, [[wattlebird]]s, [[Manorina|miner]]s and [[melidectes]]. They are most common in [[Australia]] and [[New Guinea]], and found also in [[New Zealand]], the Pacific islands as far east as [[Samoa]] and [[Tonga]], 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.<ref>{{ cite journal | last1=Andersen | first1=M.J. | last2=Naikatini | first2=A. | last3=Moyle | first3=R.C. | year=2014 | title=A molecular phylogeny of Pacific honeyeaters (Aves: Meliphagidae) reveals extensive paraphyly and an isolated Polynesian radiation | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=71 | pages=308–315 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2013.11.014 | pmid=24315868}}</ref><ref>Del Hoyo, J., Elliot, A. and Christie D. (editors). (2006). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions. {{ISBN|978-84-96553-42-2}}</ref>

In total, there are [[List of honeyeaters|186 species]] in 55 [[genus|genera]], roughly half of them native to Australia, many of the remainder occupying New Guinea.<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | year=2020 | title=Honeyeaters | work=IOC World Bird List Version 10.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/honeyeaters/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=22 February 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1186/s12862-022-02041-6 | title=Geographic range size and speciation in honeyeaters | year=2022 | last1=Hay | first1=Eleanor M. | last2=McGee | first2=Matthew D. | last3=Chown | first3=Steven L. | journal=BMC Ecology and Evolution | volume=22 | issue=1 | page=86 | pmid=35768772 | pmc=9245323 | s2cid=250147316 | doi-access=free }}</ref> With their closest relatives, the [[Maluridae]] (Australian fairy-wrens), [[Pardalotidae]] (pardalotes), and [[Acanthizidae]] (thornbills, Australian warblers, scrubwrens, etc.), they comprise the superfamily [[Meliphagoidea]] and originated early in the evolutionary history of the [[oscine]] [[passerine]] radiation.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Barker | first1 = F.K. | last2 = Cibois | first2 = A. | last3 = Schikler | first3 = P. | last4 = Feinstein | first4 = J. | last5 = Cracraft | first5 = J. | year = 2004 | title = Phylogeny and diversification of the largest avian radiation | journal = Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA | volume = 101 | issue = 30 | pages = 11040–11045 | doi=10.1073/pnas.0401892101 | pmid=15263073 | pmc=503738| bibcode = 2004PNAS..10111040B | doi-access = free }}</ref> Although honeyeaters look and behave very much like other nectar-feeding passerines around the world (such as the [[sunbird]]s and [[flowerpecker]]s), they are unrelated, and the similarities are the consequence of [[convergent evolution]].

The extent of the evolutionary partnership between honeyeaters and [[Australian flora|Australasian flowering plants]] is unknown, but probably substantial. A great many Australian plants are fertilised by honeyeaters, particularly the [[Proteaceae]], [[Myrtaceae]], and [[Ericaceae]]. It is known that the honeyeaters are important in New Zealand (see ''[[Anthornis]]'') as well, and assumed that the same applies in other areas.

==Description==
[[File:Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris female.jpg|thumb|left|A female [[eastern spinebill]] feeding. Honeyeaters typically hang from branches while feeding on nectar.]]

Honeyeaters can be either nectarivorous, insectivorous, frugivorous, or a combination of nectar- and insect-eating.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Driskell | first1=Amy C. | last2=Christidis | first2=Les | year=2004 | title=Phylogeny and evolution of the Australo-Papuan honeyeaters (Passeriformes, Meliphagidae) | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=31 | issue=3 | pages=943–960 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2003.10.017 | url=http://loco.biosci.arizona.edu/driskell/Driskell_Christidis_2004.pdf | pmid=15120392 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120501064103/http://loco.biosci.arizona.edu/driskell/Driskell_Christidis_2004.pdf | archive-date=1 May 2012 }}</ref> Unlike the [[hummingbird]]s 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 upper mandible 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 by [[hawking (birds)|hawking]], sometimes by [[gleaning (birds)|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,<ref name=EoB>{{cite book |editor=Forshaw, Joseph|author= Lindsey, Terence|year=1991|title=Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds|publisher= Merehurst Press|location=London|pages= 208|isbn= 1-85391-186-0}}</ref> 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 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 the [[spinebill]]s 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 general rule for honeyeater movements is that there is no general rule.

==Taxonomy and systematics==
{{see also|List of honeyeaters}}

The genera ''[[Cleptornis]]'' (golden honeyeater) and ''[[Apalopteron]]'' (Bonin honeyeater), formerly treated in the Meliphagidae, have recently been transferred to the [[White-eye|Zosteropidae]] on genetic evidence. The genus ''[[Notiomystis]]'' (New Zealand stitchbird), formerly classified in the Meliphagidae, has recently been removed to the newly erected [[Notiomystis|Notiomystidae]] of which it is the only member.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Driskell | first1 = A.C. | last2 = Christidis | first2 = L. | last3 = Gill | first3 = B. | last4 = Boles | first4 = W.E. | last5 = Barker | first5 = F.K. | last6 = Longmore | first6 = N.W. | year = 2007 | title = A new endemic family of New Zealand passerine birds: adding heat to a biodiversity hotspot | doi = 10.1071/zo07007 | journal = Australian Journal of Zoology | volume = 55 | issue = 2 | pages = 1–6 }}</ref> The "Macgregor's bird-of-paradise", historically considered a [[bird-of-paradise]] ([[Paradisaeidae]]), was recently found to be a honeyeater.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Cracraft | first1 = J. | last2 = Feinstein | first2 = J. | year = 2000 | title = What is not a bird of paradise? Molecular and morphological evidence places ''Macgregoria'' in the Meliphagidae and the Cnemophilinae near the base of the corvoid tree | journal = Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B | volume = 267 | issue = 1440 | pages = 233–241 | doi=10.1098/rspb.2000.0992| pmc = 1690532 | pmid=10714877}}</ref> It is now known as "[[MacGregor's honeyeater]]" and is classified in the Meliphagidae.

The [[wattled smoky honeyeater]] (''Melipotes carolae''), described in 2007, had been discovered in December 2005 in the [[Foja Mountains]] of [[Papua (Indonesian province)|Papua]], [[Indonesia]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Beehler | first1 = B. | last2 = Prawiradilaga | first2 = D. | last3 = de Fretes | first3 = Y. | last4 = Kemp | first4 = N. | year = 2007 | title = A new species of smoky honeyeater (Meliphagidae: Melipotes) from western New Guinea | journal = The Auk | volume = 124 | issue = 3| pages = 1000–1009 | doi=10.1642/0004-8038(2007)124[1000:ansosh]2.0.co;2| s2cid = 85753152 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

In 2008, a study that included molecular phylogenetic analysis of museum specimens in the genera ''[[Moho (genus)|Moho]]'' and ''[[Kioea|Chaetoptila]]'', 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, the [[Mohoidae]].<ref name="Fleischer 2008">{{Cite journal 
| last1 = Fleischer | first1 = R. C. 
| last2 = James | first2 = H. F. 
| last3 = Olson | first3 = S. L. 
| doi = 10.1016/j.cub.2008.10.051 
| title = Convergent Evolution of Hawaiian and Australo-Pacific Honeyeaters from Distant Songbird Ancestors 
| journal = Current Biology 
| volume = 18 
| issue = 24 
| pages = 1927–1931 
| year = 2008 
| pmid = 19084408 
| doi-access = free 
| bibcode = 2008CBio...18.1927F 
}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | last=Ford | first=H.A. |  chapter=Family Meliphagidae honeyeaters and Australian chats | title=[[Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds]]. Volume 5: Tyrant-flycatchers to Chats| editor1-last=Higgins | editor1-first=Peter J. | editor2-last=Peter | editor2-first=Jeffrey M. | editor3-last=Steele | editor3-first=W.K. | year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Melbourne |isbn=0-19-553258-9 | chapter-url=http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/sites/all/files/317_Red%20Wattlebird_0.pdf#6 | pages=457–461 }}

==External links==
* [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/honeyeaters-meliphagidae Honeyeater videos] on the Internet Bird Collection
* [http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Meliphagoidea&contgroup=Oscines Meliphagoidea] – Highlighting relationships of [[Maluridae]] on Tree Of Life Web Project

{{Portal bar|Birds}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q211670}}

[[Category:Meliphagidae| ]]
[[Category:Birds of Oceania]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Nicholas Aylward Vigors]]