''Manorina'' is a genus of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n endemic honeyeaters, containing four species: the

black-eared miner The black-eared miner (''Manorina melanotis'') is an endangered honeyeater endemic to mallee woodland in south-eastern Australia. Taxonomy ''Manorina melanotis'' was identified by Francis Erasmus Wilson in 1911. It is closely related to the m ...

(''M. melanotis'') the

yellow-throated miner The yellow-throated miner (''Manorina flavigula'') is a species of colonial honeyeater, endemic to Australia. It is also known as the white-rumped miner. The distinctive white rump is easy to observe in the field and distinguishes it from the o ...

(''M. flavigula''), the

noisy miner The noisy miner (''Manorina melanocephala'') is a bird in the honeyeater family, Meliphagidae, and is endemic to eastern and southeastern Australia. This miner is a grey bird, with a black head, orange-yellow beak and feet, a distinctive yellow ...

(''M. melanocephala'') and the

bell miner The bell miner (''Manorina melanophrys''), commonly known as the bellbird, is a colonial honeyeater, endemic to southeastern Australia. The common name refers to their bell-like call. 'Miner' is an old alternative spelling of 'myna', and is shar ...

(''M. melanophrys''). The genus is notable for the complex social organisation of its species, which live in colonies that can be further subdivided into coteries and nest contingents.

Description

The four species are stockily built honeyeaters with rounded wings and yellow bills. One of their most obvious characteristics is a patch of bare yellow skin behind the eyes, which gives them an odd ' cross-eyed' look. They are predominantly insectivorous and feed by gleaning. Their nests sit on other structures (such as tree branches) rather than hang down.

Taxonomy

The genus was first described by French naturalist

Louis Pierre Vieillot Louis Pierre Vieillot (10 May 1748, Yvetot – 24 August 1830, Sotteville-lès-Rouen) was a French ornithologist. Vieillot is the author of the first scientific descriptions and Linnaean names of a number of birds, including species he collected ...

in volume 19 of his work ''Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Histoire Naturelle, appliquée aux arts, principalement à l'Agriculture, à l'Écomomie rurale et domestique, à la Médecine, etc. Par une société de naturalistes et d'agriculteurs. Nouvelle Édition'' in 1818. Later it was misspelt as ''Manorhina'', but is now spelt in its original manner.

Richard Schodde Richard Schodde, Order of Australia, OAM (born 23 September 1936) is an Australian botany, botanist and ornithology, ornithologist. Schodde studied at the University of Adelaide, where he received a Bachelor of Science, BSc (Hons) in 1960 and a ...

felt the genus was related to the black-headed honeyeaters of the genus ''

Melithreptus ''Melithreptus'' is a genus of bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. Its members are native to Australia. It is generally considered to contain seven species, although some authors have classified the related blue-faced honeyeater within th ...

'' and the

blue-faced honeyeater The blue-faced honeyeater (''Entomyzon cyanotis''), also colloquially known as the Bananabird, is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family, Meliphagidae. It is the monotypic taxon, only member of its genus, and it is most closely related to hon ...

(''Entomyzon cyanotis'') based on their behaviour and appearance. However, DNA sampling in a 2004 study by Amy Driskell and Les Christidis showed that the genus was most closely related to the New Guinea genus ''

Melidectes ''Melidectes'' is a genus of bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. All six species are endemic to New Guinea. The generic name is derived from the Greek ''meli'' for honey and ''dektes'' for beggar or receiver. Description They are medium- ...

'', and that cooperative breeding evolved independently in more than one lineage of honeyeater. The genus ''Manorina'' is divided into two subgenera. The bell miner has a predominantly greenish plumage, different calls and skeletal differences and is possibly an early offshoot. It is classified in the subgenus ''Manorina'' while the other three form the subgenus ''Myzantha''. The latter had been previously classified as a separate genus, but reclassified within this one by German ornithologist

Hans Friedrich Gadow Hans Friedrich Gadow (8 March 1855 – 16 May 1928) was a Germany, German-born ornithologist who worked in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Britain. His work on the classification of birds based on anatomical and morphological characte ...

in 1884. The name "miner" derives from a mid 19th century re-spelling of the Hindi name "

myna The mynas (; also spelled mynah) are a group of birds in the starling family (Sturnidae). This is a group of passerine birds which are native to Iran and Southern Asia, especially Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lan ...

", which they resemble, but was not formally adopted until the early 20th century.

Subgenera and species

References

{{Authority control Bird genera Taxa named by Louis Pierre Vieillot Endemic birds of Australia