Schwarzscheitel-Honigfresser

Melithreptus affinis

Kleiner Honigfresser mit vollständig schwarzem Kopf. Oberseite olivfarben mit weißer Unterseite. Die schwarze Färbung des Kopfes grenzt scharf an die weiße Unterseite. Jungvögel haben keinen schwarzen Kopf – stattdessen Schwarz um das Auge und einen braunen Kopf. Endemisch in Tasmanien und bewohnt hauptsächlich trockenere Wälder in niedrigeren Höhenlagen.

Bestimmung

A mid-sized honeyeater, it is olive-green above and white below, with a wholly black head that lacks the white nape of its relatives. It has a blue-white patch of bare skin around the eye. Its beak is small.

Taxonomie

The black-headed honeyeater was described in 1839 as Eidopsarus affinis. John Gould described it as Melithreptus melanocephalus in 1844, likely unaware of its earlier name.<p>Molecular studies show that the black-headed honeyeater is most closely related to the white-naped honeyeater, and that their next closest relative is Gilbert's honeyeater. All are members of the genus Melithreptus, with several species of similar size and (apart from the brown-headed honeyeater) black-headed appearance, in the honeyeater family, Meliphagidae. The next closest relative outside the genus is the much larger, but similarly marked, blue-faced honeyeater. More recently, DNA analysis has shown honeyeaters to be related to the Pardalotidae (pardalotes), Acanthizidae (Australian warblers, scrubwrens, thornbills, etc.), and the Maluridae (Australian fairywrens) in the large superfamily Meliphagoidea.

Wissenschaftlicher Name
Melithreptus affinis
Autorität
(Lesson, RP, 1839)
Ordnung
Passeriformes
Familie
Honigfresser (Meliphagidae)
Gattung
Melithreptus

Verbreitung und Lebensraum

The black-headed honeyeater is endemic to Tasmania as well as King Island and the Furneaux Group, where it inhabits wet and dry sclerophyll forests, as well as scrub and heathland, and subalpine habitats to an altitude of 1200 m (4000 ft).

Zugverhalten
Resident species

Schutzstatus

Bestandstrend
declining

Fotos

Verbreitung

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