Yellow-throated honeyeater
| Yellow-throated honeyeater | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Meliphagidae |
| Genus: | Nesoptilotis |
| Species: | N. flavicollis |
| Binomial name | |
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Nesoptilotis flavicollis (Vieillot, 1817) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Lichenostomus flavicollis |
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Lichenostomus flavicollis
The yellow-throated honeyeater (Nesoptilotis flavicollis), also known as the green cherry-picker, green dick or green linnet is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is similar in behaviour and appearance to the white-eared honeyeater and is endemic to Australia's island state of Tasmania. It was formerly considered a pest of orchards.
The species was originally described by French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1817, who originally placed it in the genus Melithreptus. Its specific epithet is derived from the Latin words flavus "yellow", and collis "neck". Other vernacular names are the green cherry-picker, green dick or green linnet.
The yellow-throated honeyeater was previously placed in the genus Lichenostomus but was moved to Nesoptilotis after a molecular phylogenetic analysis published in 2011 showed that the original genus was polyphyletic. It is a sister taxon to the white-eared honeyeater (N. leucotis) that occurs in Tasmania. The two are part of a clade that contains the genera Entomyzon, Melithreptus and Foulehaio.
The yellow-throated honeyeater is a medium-sized honeyeater with a relatively long tail. Typical weight is 31 g and the average length is 21 cm. The plumage is bright olive green above, with a silver-grey crown, face, and underbelly contrasting with a distinctive bright yellow chin and throat. There is a small yellow ear-patch and the wing feathers are outlined with yellow. The bill is black and the eye is a deep ruby red. Females are smaller than males. Juvenile birds are very similar to adults, but duller.
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