Tawny-crowned honeyeater
The tawny-crowned honeyeater is a passerine bird native to southern Australia.
Taxonomy
The tawny-crowned honeyeater was originally described by ornithologist John Latham in 1801 as Certhia melanops. Its specific epithet is derived from the Ancient Greek terms melano- 'black' and ōps 'face'. It was previously classified in the genus Phylidonyris but a molecular study has shown it to be more distantly related to members of that genus. It was assigned to a new genus Gliciphila by Gregory Mathews in 1912.Two subspecies are recognised:G. m. melanops – coastal southern Australia G. m. chelidonia Schodde, R & Mason, IJ, 1999 – western Tasmania
Description
A species of the honeyeater family, perching birds that feed on insects and nectar. Tawny-crowned honeyeaters are sometimes observed hopping amongst plants on the ground to feed, considered as unusual behaviour amongst its near relations. It resembles the eastern and western spinebills and crescent honeyeater, but is distinguished by a tawny-colored crown above a white line separating the black markings of the face. The upper side of the body is a pale brown, becoming white plumage on the lower parts. They possess a long curved bill that is able to reach nectar at the base of flowers, and in some plants they have become the primary pollinator.The subspecies G. melanops chelidonia, an endemic of Tasmania, has a rufous tinge to its plumage.