Taxonomy
The Crescent Honeyeater was originally described by ornithologist John Latham in 1801 as Certhia pyrrhoptera, because of an assumed relationship with the treecreepers, Certhia. It was later named Certhia australasiana by George Shaw in 1812, Melithreptus melanoleucus by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1817, and Meliphaga inornata by John Gould in 1838. The generic term comes from the French phylidonyre, which combines the names for a honeyeater and a sunbird (previously thought to belong to the same family). The specific epithet is derived from the Ancient Greek stems pyrrhos, meaning "fire", and pteron, meaning "wing", in reference to the yellow wing patches. Some guidebooks have the binomial name written as Phylidonyris pyrrhoptera; however, a review in 2001 ruled that the genus name was masculine, hence pyrrhopterus is the correct specific name. Two subspecies are recognised, the nominate form P. p. pyrrhopterus over most of its range, and P. p. halmaturinus which is restricted to Kangaroo Island and the Mount Lofty Ranges.
A recent molecular study showed its close relatives to be the New Holland Honeyeater and the White-cheeked Honeyeater, the three forming the now small genus Phylidonyris. DNA analysis has shown honeyeaters to be related to the Pardalotidae (pardalotes), Acanthizidae (Australian warblers, scrubwrens, thornbills, etc.), and Maluridae (Australian fairy-wrens) in a large Meliphagoidea superfamily.
Other common names for the Crescent Honeyeater include Chinawing, Egypt and Horseshoe Honeyeater. Gould called it the Tasmanian Honeyeater.
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