HONEYEATER

any of the 170 species of the songbird family Meliphagidae (order Passeriformes), including some of the commonest birds of Australia, New Guinea, and the western Pacific islands. The birds range in size from 10 to 35 centimetres (4 to 14 inches) and are drab, with subtly distinctive head markings. The bill is slender and somewhat downcurved, the tongue tubular and brush-tipped. Honeyeaters go about in pairs or in small flocks, feeding on nectar, insects, and fruit. Representative of the 40 species of the genus Meliphaga, most of which have ear tufts, is the 18-cm (7-in.) white-eared honeyeater (M. leucotis), of southern Australia. A colourful genus is Myzomela, with 25 species, found chiefly on islands of Oceania; males typically are red and black. The 11.5-cm (4.5-in.) scarlet honeyeater, or bloodbird (M. sanguinolenta), of eastern Australia sings a tinkling song in the midday heat. Other members of the honeyeater family are called bellbirds, friarbirds, miners, and wattlebirds. The three wattlebirds (Anthochaera) are large for honeyeaters, about 35 cm (14 in.) long, and are found in forests of eastern and southern Australia. The Cape sugarbird (Promerops cafer) of southern Africa is often considered a member of this family.