honeyeater

plural honeyeaters · alternative honey-eater

1. Any of the many Australasian birds of the family Meliphagidae, which have a tongue adapted for obtaining nectar from flowers.

   The adopted sequence of genera of Australian honeyeaters follows that implied by the phylogeny of Driskell and Christidis (2004).

   2008, Les Christidis, Walter Boles, editors, Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds, page 190

   2 more examples

   1985, Hugh A. Ford, David C. Paton, Chapter 12: Habitat Selection in Australian Honeyeaters, with Special Reference to Nectar Productivity, Martin L. Cody (editor), Habitat Selection in Birds, 376, For all honeyeaters combined and White-naped Honeyeaters, the only other common species, there is actually a negative correlation between abundance and nectar productivity […] .

   The spiny-cheeked honeyeater has a more generalized diet and the gastrointestinal tract is similar structurally and proportionally to other honeyeaters.

   1999, Karen van Rheede van Oudtshoorn, Margaretha W. van Rooyen, Dispersal Biology of Desert Plants, page 23

   Synonyms: meliphagid