Lichmera

Lichmera
Brown honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Meliphagidae
Genus:	Lichmera Cabanis, 1851
Type species
Glyciphila ocularis [1] Gould, 1838
Species
See text

Lichmera is a genus of birds in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae that are found in Southeast Asia.

Taxonomy

The genus Lichmera was introduced in 1851 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis. He listed two species in the new genus but did not specify a type species. ^[2] In 1854 the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte designate the type as Glyciphila ocularis Gould, which is now treated as a subspecies of the brown honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta ocularis). ^{[3] [4]} The genus name Lichmera is from Ancient Greek λιχμηρης/likhmērēs meaning "licking with the tongue". ^[5]

The genus contains nine species: ^[6]

• Olive honeyeater, Lichmera argentauris – Lusaolate (north of central Seram), Kekek (east of Obi Islands), Damar Island (south of Halmahera; north, central Moluccas) and islets of Raja Ampat Islands (northwest of New Guinea)
• Brown honeyeater, Lichmera indistincta – Bali, Lesser Sunda Islands, Aru Islands, central south New Guinea and west, north, central, east Australia
• Grey-eared honeyeater, Lichmera incana – central, south Vanuatu and New Caledonia including Loyalty Islands
• Silver-eared honeyeater, Lichmera alboauricularis – central north and southeast New Guinea
• Scaly-breasted honeyeater, Lichmera squamata – Wetar and Leti to Babar Islands (east Lesser Sunda Islands) and Tayandu, Kai, and Tanimbar Islands (south Moluccas)
• Buru honeyeater, Lichmera deningeri – montane Buru (central west Moluccas)
• Seram honeyeater, Lichmera monticola – montane west, central Seram (central east Moluccas)
• Flame-eared honeyeater, Lichmera flavicans – Timor (east Lesser Sunda Islands)
• Black-necklaced honeyeater, Lichmera notabilis – Wetar (east Lesser Sunda Islands)

References

1. "Melaphagidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
2. Cabanis, Jean (1850–1851). Museum Heineanum : Verzeichniss der ornithologischen Sammlung des Oberamtmann Ferdinand Heine, auf Gut St. Burchard vor Halberstadt (in German and Latin). Vol. 1. Halberstadt: R. Frantz. p. 118. For the publication date of volume 1 see: Dickinson, E.C.; Overstreet, L.K.; Dowsett, R.J.; Bruce, M.D. (2011). Priority! The Dating of Scientific Names in Ornithology: a Directory to the literature and its reviewers. Northampton, UK: Aves Press. pp. 80–81. ISBN   978-0-9568611-1-5.
3. Bonaparte, Charles Lucien (1854). "Notes sur les collections rapportées en 1853, par M. A. Delattre, de son voyage en Californie et dans le Nicaragua". Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences. 38: 1–11, 53–67, 258–266, 378–389, 533–541, 650–665 [263].
4. Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1986). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 12. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 345.
5. Jobling, James A. "Lichmera". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
6. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (February 2025). "Honeyeaters". IOC World Bird List Version 15.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 26 October 2025.