Honey eater

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Honey eater
Tui (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae)

Tui ( Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae )

Systematics
Subclass : New-jawed birds (Neognathae)
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
without rank: Eupasseres
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
Superfamily : Meliphagoidea
Family : Honey eater
Scientific name
Meliphagidae
Vigors , 1825

The honey-eaters (Meliphagidae) form a species-rich family in the order of the passerine birds (Passeriformes). Depending on the author, the family includes 172 to 182 species in 42 genera. Most species of this family of songbirds are characterized by their long, forward curved beak, which is excellent for feeding pollen and honey.

features

The body size and beak shape of the different types of honeyeater can vary widely. The plumage color also has a wide spectrum. They have a long tongue that is adapted to their diet. The tongue can be stretched out far and is split at the tip and equipped with numerous fringes. The nectar is caught like a brush . The ingestion of the nectar is facilitated by the tongue curled up at the base of the tongue.

The chants are mostly used to delimit the territory and can be very impressive, as with the honey tasters ( Melithreptus ). The tui , also known as the priest bird because of its white feathers on its neck, has the ability not only to imitate the songs of different species of songbirds, it can also imitate the voices of other animals.

nutrition

They feed like sunbirds of pollen and nectar, and the role take over at some plants the pollen transfer agent. Insects, berries and fruits are also on the menu.

Reproduction

The nests with one or two eggs are usually bowl-shaped, open or closed at the top and have a side entrance. They are applied to trees and bushes. They use grass, bark, plant fibers or moss, ferns, leaves and twigs to build nests.

distribution

Honeyeater are common in many different habitats in Australia , New Guinea , some of the Lesser Sunda Islands , New Zealand and many islands in the South Pacific , and mostly inhabit trees.

Existence and endangerment

The Chatham bell honey eater ( Anthornis melanocephala ), which was at times considered a subspecies of the Maori bell honey eater ( Anthornis melanura ), was last sighted in 1906. Several species listed as endangered by BirdLife International have a very small range and are threatened by habitat loss. These include the mallee chatterbox , the wart honey eater , the mao honey eater , the red-faced honey eater and the morotaile head . In 2000, fewer than 100 individuals were counted, including 37 breeding pairs, of the Australian tufted ear honey eater ( Lichenostomus melanops cassidix ), a subspecies of the yellow-headed honey eater ( Lichenostomus melanops ).

Changes in the system

In recent years there have been several taxonomic changes within the honeyeater family. Originally the New Zealand stinging bird or hihi ( Notiomystis cincta ) belonged to this family. However, genetic analyzes revealed a closer relationship to the lobed birds , so that in 2007 it was placed in the independent family Notiomystidae . The new Mohoidae family was created in 2008 for five extinct taxa - the narrow- feather honey-eater ( Chaetoptila angustipluma ) and all four species of curly-tailed (Moho) - because these birds do not descend from Australian honey-eaters, as mistakenly assumed, but from New World relatives of the waxwings , which reached the Hawaiian Islands over 17 million years ago. Two species of spectacled bird - the golden- eyed bird ( Cleptornis marchei ) and the Bonin- eyed bird ( Apalopteron familiare ) - were also previously regarded as representatives of honey-eaters. The lobed honey eater ( Macgregoria pulchra ) was originally considered a bird of paradise . On the basis of molecular studies that suggest similarities with the honey-eaters of the genus Melipotes , it was transferred to the honey-eaters family in 2000. The African protea birds (Promeropidae), which were either considered to be a subfamily of the nectar birds or the honeyeater, have been regarded as an independent family since 2005. The taxonomic position of the black wheatear was also unclear for a long time. They were classified either as representatives of the thrushes or as a separate family Ephthianuridae. According to current researcher opinion, the two genera of the black wheatear now belong to the honey eaters.

Genera and species

Red-rag honeyeater ( Anthochaera carunculata )
Cinnamon-wing honeyeater ( Anthochaera chrysoptera )
Maori bell honeyeater ( Anthornis melanura )
Blue-eared honeyeater ( Entomyzon cyanotis )
Three-striped honeyeater ( Lichenostomus chrysops )
Crimson Honeyeater ( Lichenostomus cratitius )
Black-throated honeyeater ( Lichenostomus leucotis )
Brown honey eater ( Lichmera indistincta )
Yellow-fronted babbler ( Manorina flavigula )
Bell-babbling bird ( Manorina melanophrys )
Noise leather head ( Philemon corniculatus )
White-eyed honeyeater ( Phylidonyris novaehollandiae )
White-eared honeyeater ( Phylidonyris nigra )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ J. Del Hoyo, A. Elliot and D. Christie (Eds.): Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 13: Penduline-Tits to Shrikes . Lynx Edicions, 2008, ISBN 978-84-96553-45-3
  2. ^ Robert C. Fleischer, Helen F. James, Storrs L. Olson (2008): Convergent Evolution of Hawaiian and Australo-Pacific Honeyeaters from Distant Songbird Ancestors. Current Biology, Volume 18

literature

  • Publisher: Forshaw, Joseph: Encyclopedia of Birds , 1999 - ISBN 3-8289-1557-4
  • J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott & DA Christie (Eds.) (2008): Handbook of the Birds of the World . Vol. 13. Penduline-Tits to Shrikes . Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, ISBN 978-84-96553-45-3

Web links

Commons : Honey Eater  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files