Mangrove honeyeater

Mangrove honeyeater
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Meliphagidae
Genus:	Gavicalis
Species:	G. fasciogularis
Binomial name
Gavicalis fasciogularis (Gould, 1854)

The mangrove honeyeater (Gavicalis fasciogularis) is a species of bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. The species was once considered to be conspecific with the varied honeyeater, but it is now treated as a separate species. These two species form a superspecies with the singing honeyeater.

It is endemic to Australia, where it is restricted to the eastern coast from Townsville in Queensland to northern New South Wales. The species has been expanding its range southward in recent years. The mangrove honeyeater is generally locally common over most of its range, but is rarer in the south.

Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.

The mangrove honeyeater was previously placed in the genus Lichenostomus but was moved to Gavicalis after molecular phylogenetic analysis published in 2011 showed that the original genus was polyphyletic.^[2][3]

References

1. BirdLife International (2012). "Lichenostomus fasciogularis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
2. Nyári, Á.S.; Joseph, L. (2011). "Systematic dismantlement of Lichenostomus improves the basis for understanding relationships within the honeyeaters (Meliphagidae) and historical development of Australo–Papuan bird communities". Emu 111: 202–211. doi:10.1071/mu10047.
3. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David (eds.). "Honeyeaters". World Bird List Version 6.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 28 January 2016.