Western White-naped Honeyeater
Encyclopedia
The Western White-naped Honeyeater (Melithreptus chloropsis), also known as the Swan River Honeyeater, is a passerine
bird of the honeyeater
family
Meliphagidae native to south-western
Australia
.
terms chloros "green-yellow" and opsis "eye". He called it the Swan River Honeyeater. Treated as a subspecies of the White-naped Honeyeater
for many years, it was found in a 2010 study to have diverged early on from the lunatus complex. It forms a superspecies
with the White-naped and Black-headed Honeyeater
s.
Gould called it the Swan River Honeyeater, and noted the species was known by various local indigenous names, including Jingee (lowland), Bun-geen (mountains), and Berril-berril (Swan River). Gregory Mathews
coined the name Melithreptus whitlocki in 1909.
with several species, of similar size and (apart from the Brown-headed Honeyeater
) black-headed appearance, in the honeyeater
family Meliphagidae. The next closest relative outside the genus is the much larger but similarly marked Blue-faced Honeyeater. More recently, DNA
analysis has shown honeyeaters to be related to the Pardalotidae (pardalotes), Acanthizidae
(Australian warblers, scrubwrens, thornbills, etc.), and the Maluridae
(Australian fairy-wrens) in a large Meliphagoidea
superfamily.
in the north, through the Jarrah
forest belt to Broomehill
, the Stirling Range
and along the coast to Stokes Inlet
. It inhabits dry sclerophyll
forests.
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird of the honeyeater
Honeyeater
The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family of small to medium sized birds most common in Australia and New Guinea, but also found 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...
family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Meliphagidae native to south-western
Southwest Australia
Southwest Australia is a biodiversity hotspot that includes the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregions of Western Australia. The region has a wet-winter, dry-summer Mediterranean climate, one of five such regions in the world...
Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Etymology
The Western White-naped Honeyeater was originally described by John Gould in 1844, who gave it the species name chloropsis from the Ancient GreekAncient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
terms chloros "green-yellow" and opsis "eye". He called it the Swan River Honeyeater. Treated as a subspecies of the White-naped Honeyeater
White-naped Honeyeater
The White-naped Honeyeater Melithreptus lunatus is a passerine bird of the Honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to eastern Australia. Birds from southwestern Australia have been shown to be a distinct species, the Western White-naped Honeyeater, and the eastern birds more closely related to the...
for many years, it was found in a 2010 study to have diverged early on from the lunatus complex. It forms a superspecies
Superspecies
A superspecies is a group of at least two more or less distinctive species with approximately parapatric distributions. Not all species complexes, whether cryptices or ring species are superspecies, and vice versa, but many are...
with the White-naped and Black-headed Honeyeater
Black-headed Honeyeater
The Black-headed Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family.It is one of two members of the genus Melithreptus endemic to Tasmania. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.-Taxonomy:The Black-headed Honeyeater was described in 1839 as ...
s.
Gould called it the Swan River Honeyeater, and noted the species was known by various local indigenous names, including Jingee (lowland), Bun-geen (mountains), and Berril-berril (Swan River). Gregory Mathews
Gregory Mathews
Gregory Macalister Mathews CBE was an Australian amateur ornithologist.Mathews made his fortune in mining shares, and moved to England around 1900....
coined the name Melithreptus whitlocki in 1909.
Taxonomy
It is a member of the genus MelithreptusMelithreptus
Melithreptus is a genus of bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. Its members are native to Australia. It is generally considered to contain seven species, although some authors have classified the related Blue-faced Honeyeater within this genus....
with several species, of similar size and (apart from the Brown-headed Honeyeater
Brown-headed Honeyeater
The Brown-headed Honeyeater is a species of passerine bird in the Meliphagidae family.It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation....
) black-headed appearance, in the honeyeater
Honeyeater
The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family of small to medium sized birds most common in Australia and New Guinea, but also found 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...
family Meliphagidae. The next closest relative outside the genus is the much larger but similarly marked Blue-faced Honeyeater. More recently, DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
analysis has shown honeyeaters to be related to the Pardalotidae (pardalotes), Acanthizidae
Acanthizidae
The Acanthizidae, also known as the Australasian warblers, are a family of passerine birds which include gerygones, thornbills, and scrubwrens. The Acanthizidae consists of small to medium passerine birds, with a total length varying between 8 and 19 cm. They have short rounded wings, slender...
(Australian warblers, scrubwrens, thornbills, etc.), and the Maluridae
Maluridae
The Maluridae are a family of small, insectivorous passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea. Commonly known as wrens, they are unrelated to the true wrens of the Northern Hemisphere...
(Australian fairy-wrens) in a large Meliphagoidea
Meliphagoidea
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.-Systematics:...
superfamily.
Description
A mid-sized honeyeater, it is olive green above and white below, with a black head, nape and throat and a white patch over the eye and a white crescent-shaped patch on the nape, thinner than other species. The bill is brownish-black and the eyes a dull red.Distribution and habitat
The honeyeater is found in the south-west corner of Western Australia where it ranges from MooraMoora, Western Australia
Moora is a townsite located 177 km north of Perth in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. Moora was one of the original stations on the Midland railway line to Walkaway, and the townsite was gazetted in 1895...
in the north, through the Jarrah
Jarrah
Eucalyptus marginata is one of the most common species of Eucalyptus tree in the southwest of Western Australia. The tree and the wood are usually referred to by the Aboriginal name Jarrah...
forest belt to Broomehill
Broomehill, Western Australia
Broomehill is a town located along the Great Southern Highway between Katanning and Albany, in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.- History :...
, the Stirling Range
Stirling Range
The Stirling Range or Koikyennuruff is a range of mountains and hills in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, 337 km south-east of Perth. It is located at approximately and is over 60 km wide from west to east, stretching from the highway between Mount Barker and Cranbrook...
and along the coast to Stokes Inlet
Stokes Inlet
Stokes Inlet is an inlet in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia.The inlet is situated from Esperance in Stokes National Park and is set is a large river valley with permanent deep water and high dunes located on either side. Thick bushland and paperbark trees surround the inlet...
. It inhabits dry sclerophyll
Sclerophyll
Sclerophyll is the term for a type of vegetation that has hard leaves and short internodes . The word comes from the Greek sclero and phyllon ....
forests.