The white-naped honeyeater (''Melithreptus lunatus'') is a

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...

bird of the honeyeater family

Meliphagidae The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, miners and melidectes. They are most common in Australia and New Gu ...

native to eastern Australia. Birds from southwestern Australia have been shown to be a distinct species,

Gilbert's honeyeater Gilbert's honeyeater (''Melithreptus chloropsis''), also known as the Swan River honeyeater or western white-naped honeyeater, is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to southwestern Australia. A mid-sized honeyeater, it ...

, and the eastern birds are more closely related to the

black-headed honeyeater The black-headed honeyeater (''Melithreptus affinis'') is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is one of two members of the genus ''Melithreptus'' endemic to Tasmania. Its natural habitats are temperate forest and Mediterranean-type ...

of Tasmania. One of several similar species of black-headed honeyeaters in the genus '' Melithreptus'', it dwells in dry

sclerophyll Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or oblique to direct ...

eucalypt Eucalypt is a descriptive name for woody plants with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australasia: ''Eucalyptus'', ''Corymbia'', ''Angophora'', '' Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

woodland. Its diet consists of nectar from various flowers, and it also feeds on insects.

Taxonomy

The white-naped honeyeater was originally described as ''Certhia lunata'' by French ornithologist

Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot Louis Pierre Vieillot (10 May 1748, Yvetot – 24 August 1830, Sotteville-lès-Rouen) was a French ornithologist. Vieillot is the author of the first scientific descriptions and Linnaean names of a number of birds, including species he collec ...

in 1802. The specific epithet is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''luna'', meaning 'moon'; this refers to the crescent-shaped, white marking on its nape. It is a member of the genus '' Melithreptus'', with several species of similar size and (apart from the brown-headed honeyeater) black-headed appearance, in the honeyeater family,

. The next closest relative outside the genus is the much larger, but similarly marked,

blue-faced honeyeater The blue-faced honeyeater (''Entomyzon cyanotis''), also colloquially known as the bananabird, is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family, Meliphagidae. It is the only member of its genus, and it is most closely related to honeyeaters of t ...

. More recently, DNA analysis has shown honeyeaters to be related to the Pardalotidae (pardalotes),

Acanthizidae The Acanthizidae—known as Australian warblers—are a family of passerine birds which includes gerygones, the thornbills ''Acanthiza'', and the scrubwrens of ''Sericornis''. The Acanthizidae family consists of small to medium passerine birds, ...

(Australian warblers, scrubwrens, thornbills, etc.), and the

Maluridae The Australasian wrens are a family, Maluridae, of small, insectivorous passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea. While commonly known as wrens, they are unrelated to the true wrens. The family comprises 32 species (including sixteen ...

(Australian fairy-wrens) in the large superfamily

Meliphagoidea __NOTOC__ Meliphagoidea is a superfamily of passerine birds. They contain a vast diversity of small to mid-sized songbirds widespread in the Austropacific region. The Australian Continent has the largest richness in genera and species. Systemat ...

, found in southwest

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, was initially described as a separate species by

John Gould John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist. He published a number of monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, including Edward Lear, ...

in 1844, before being reclassified as a subspecies of the white-naped for many years. However, a molecular study published in 2010 showed that it had diverged before the split of populations in eastern Australia into the white-naped and

s. "White-naped honeyeater" has been designated as the official common name for the species by the

International Ornithologists' Union The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...

(IOC).

Description

A mid-sized honeyeater at in length, it is olive-green above and white below, with a black head, nape and throat, a red patch over the eye, and a white crescent-shaped patch on the nape. It is thinner than other similar species. Juveniles have brownish crowns and an orange base of the bill. Its call is a ''mjerp mjerp''.

Ecology

It is found in eucalypt forest and woodlands. Its diet is principally nectar from a variety of flowers, supplemented by insects and various other invertebrates. White-naped honeyeaters may nest from July to December, breeding once or twice during this time. The nest is a thick-walled bowl of grasses and bits of bark in the fork of a tall tree, usually a eucalypt. Two or three eggs are laid, in size, and shiny, buff-pink, sparsely spotted with red-brown.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q741249 white-naped honeyeater Articles containing video clips white-naped honeyeater Birds of New South Wales Birds of Queensland Birds of South Australia Birds of Victoria (Australia) Endemic birds of Australia white-naped honeyeater