Black honeyeater
| Black honeyeater | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| A male on a Jacaranda | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Meliphagidae |
| Genus: |
Sugomel Mathews, 1922 |
| Species: | S. niger |
| Binomial name | |
|
Sugomel nigrum (Gould, 1838) |
|
 |
|
| Approximate distribution of the black honeyeater | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Myzomela nigra Gould, 1838 |
|
Myzomela nigra Gould, 1838
Certhionyx niger (Gould, 1838) Salomonsen, 1967
The black honeyeater (Sugomel nigrum) is a species of bird in the family of honeyeaters, Meliphagidae, and the sole species in the genus Sugomel. The black honeyeater exhibits sexual dimorphism with the male being black and white while the female is a speckled grey-brown; immature birds look like the female. The species is endemic to Australia, and ranges widely across the arid areas of the continent, through open woodland and shrubland, particularly in areas where the emu bush and related species occur.
Black honeyeaters feed on nectar, and have a long curved bill to reach the base of tubular flowers such as those of the emu bush. They also take insects on the wing, and regularly eat charcoal left behind at campfires. The male engages in a soaring song flight in the mating season, but contributes little to nest building and incubation. Both sexes feed and care for the young. While the population appears to be decreasing, they are sufficiently numerous and widespread to be considered of Least Concern in terms of conservation.
The black honeyeater was first described by John Gould in 1838 as Myzomela nigra, using the Latin adjective niger to refer to the black plumage of the male. The genus name was derived from the Ancient Greek words myzo 'to suckle' and meli 'honey', and referred to the bird's nectivorous habits. In 1967 ornithologist Finn Salomonsen transferred the species from Myzomela to the genus Certhionyx, which also contained the banded honeyeater (Certhionyx pectoralis) and pied honeyeater (Certhionyx variegatus), and later authorities accepted this classification. However, in 2004 genetic study of nuclear and DNA of honeyeaters resolved it as in a natural group with Myzomela after all, although it was an early offshoot and quite divergent genetically. It was subsequently reclassified in its own genus Sugomel. It is identified as Sugomel niger by most taxonomic authorities, and Sugomel nigrum by the IOC Birdlist. A 2017 genetic study using both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA indicates that the ancestor of the black honeyeater diverged from that of the scaly-crowned honeyeater just under million years ago, and the two have some affinities the genus Myzomela.
...
Wikipedia