Lichenostomus

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Lichenostomus
Yellow-tufted Honeyeater (Lichenostomus melanops).jpg
Yellow-tufted honeyeater (Lichenostomus melanops)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Meliphagidae
Genus: Lichenostomus
Cabanis, 1851
Type species
Lichenostomus occidentalis [1]
Cabanis, 1851

Lichenostomus is a genus of honeyeaters endemic to Australia.

The genus formerly contained twenty species but it was split after a molecular phylogenetic analysis published in 2011 showed that the genus was polyphyletic. [2] Former members were moved to the six new genera: Nesoptilotis , Bolemoreus , Caligavis , Stomiopera , Gavicalis and Ptilotula . [2]

The genus contains two species: [3]

ImageScientific nameCommon nameDistribution
Yellow-tufted Honeyeater (Lichenostomus melanops) - Flickr - Lip Kee (1).jpg Lichenostomus melanops Yellow-tufted honeyeater east and southeast Australia
Lichenostomus cratitius.jpg Lichenostomus cratitius Purple-gaped honeyeater southwest and south-central Australia

The name Lichenostomus was introduced by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in 1851. [4] The word is derived from the Greek leikhēn meaning lichen or callous and stoma meaning mouth. [5]

Feeding

Both species feed primarily on nectar but also glean insects from foliage and bark and make aerial sallies for invertebrates. The purple-gaped honeyeater can forage in small groups of up to 30 birds. [6]

References

  1. ↑ "Melaphagidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  2. 1 2 Nyári, Á.S.; Joseph, L. (2011). "Systematic dismantlement of Lichenostomus improves the basis for understanding relationships within the honeyeaters (Meliphagidae) and historical development of Australo–Papuan bird communities". Emu. 111 (3): 202–211. Bibcode:2011EmuAO.111..202N. doi:10.1071/mu10047. S2CID   85333285.
  3. ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David (eds.). "Honeyeaters". World Bird List Version 6.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  4. ↑ Cabanis, Jean Louis (1851). Museum Heineannum (Volume 1) (in German). Halberstadt. p. 119.
  5. ↑ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p.  226. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. ↑ Higgins, Peter J.; Christidis, Les; Ford, Hugh (2020). "Yellow-tufted Honeyeater (Lichenostomus melanops), version 1.0" . Birds of the World. doi:10.2173/bow.yethon3.01. ISSN   2771-3105.
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