What is Honeyeater?
{{Automatic taxobox | name = Honeyeaters | image = Crescent Honeyeater Edit2.jpg | image_caption = Female [[crescent honeyeater]] (''Phylidonyris pyrrhopterus'') | taxon = Meliphagidae | authority = [[Nicholas Aylward Vigors|Vigors]], 1825 | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision_ref = <ref>Sibley, C.G. and Monroe, B.L. Jr. (1990). ''Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World.'' New Haven: Yale University Press. {{ISBN|0-300-04969-2}}.</ref> | subdivision = }} A '''honeyeater''' is one of a large family of small to medium-sized birds which feed on [[nectar]]. They are most common in [[Australia]] and [[New Guinea]], but are also found in [[New Zealand]], the [[Pacific]] islands as far east as [[Samoa]] and [[Tonga]], and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea. [[Bali]], on the other side of the [[Wallace Line]], has a single [[species]]. Honeyeaters and the Australian '''chats''' ([[Epthianura]]) make up the [[family (biology)|family]] '''Meliphagidae'''. In total there are 182 [[species]] in 42 [[genera]].<ref>as listed in Sibley & Monroe 1990.</ref> About half of them live in Australia, and many of the others are from New Guinea. Although honeyeaters look and behave much like other nectar-feeding birds around the world (such as the [[sunbird]]s and [[flowerpecker]]s), they are not related. There is an important partnership between honeyeaters and Australian [[flowering plants]]. A great many Australian plants are fertilised by honeyeaters, particularly the [[Proteaceae]], [[Myrtaceae]], and [[Epacridaceae]]. It is known that the honeyeaters are important in [[New Zealand]] as well, and scientists believe they are just as important in other areas. == Description == [[File:Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris female.jpg|thumb|left|A female [[eastern spinebill]] feeding. Honeyeaters like to hang from branches while feeding on nectar]] Unlike the [[hummingbird]]s of America, honeyeaters do not usually [[hover]] (beat their wings fast to stay in the same air space). However, smaller members of the fam