Black Honeyeater - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

The Black Honeyeater was first described by John Gould in 1838 as Myzomela nigra, using the Latin adjective niger to refer to the black plumage of the male. The genus name was derived from the Ancient Greek words myzo 'to suckle' and meli 'honey', and referred to the bird's nectivorous habits. In 1967 ornithologist Finn Salomonsen transferred the species from Myzomela to the genus Certhionyx, which also contained the Banded Honeyeater (Certhionyx pectoralis) and Pied Honeyeater (Certhionyx variegatus), and later authorities accepted this classification. However in 2004 genetic study of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA of honeyeaters resolved it as in a natural group with Myzomela after all, although it was an early offshoot and quite divergent genetically. It was subsequently reclassified in its own genus Sugomel. It is identified as Sugomel niger by most taxonomic authorities, and Sugomel nigrum by the IOC Birdlist.

DNA analysis has shown honeyeaters to be related to the Pardalotidae (pardalotes), Acanthizidae (Australian warblers, scrubwrens, thornbills, etc.), and the Maluridae (Australian fairy-wrens) in a large Meliphagoidea superfamily. The Papuan Black Myzomela, (Myzomela nigrita), found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea is also known as the Black Honeyeater. It is a different but related species.