Phylidonyris is a genus of birds in the honeyeater family that are endemic to Australia.

Phylidonyris
Crescent honeyeater (Phylidonyris pyrrhoptera)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Meliphagidae
Genus: Phylidonyris
Lesson, 1830
Type species
Certhia novaehollandiae
Latham, 1790

Taxonomy edit

The genus Phylidonyris was introduced in 1830 by the French naturalist René Lesson to accommodate a single species, Certhia novaehollandiae Latham, 1790, now the New Holland honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae).[1][2] The generic name Phylidonyris combines the term Phylédon or Philédon, used by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1817 for the friarbirds (now placed in the genus Philemon), with Cinnyris (Cuvier, 1816) for the sunbirds.[3]

The genus contains the following three species:[4]

Image Scientific name Common name Distribution
  Phylidonyris novaehollandiae New Holland honeyeater southern Australia
  Phylidonyris niger White-cheeked honeyeater east coast and the south-west corner of Australia
  Phylidonyris pyrrhopterus Crescent honeyeater southeastern Australia

References edit

  1. ^ Lesson, René (1830). Traité d'Ornithologie, ou Tableau Méthodique (in French). Paris: F.G. Levrault. p. 298. Published in 8 livraisons between 1830 and 1831. For the publication date 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. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-9568611-1-5.
  2. ^ Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1986). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 12. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 425.
  3. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 305. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (December 2023). "Honeyeaters". IOC World Bird List Version 14.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 4 March 2024.