Meliphaga

{{Short description|Genus of birds}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Lewins Honeyeater kobble apr06.jpg

| image_caption = Lewin's honeyeater (Meliphaga lewinii)

| taxon = Meliphaga

| authority = Lewin, 1808

| type_species = Meliphaga chrysotis{{cite web |url= https://www.aviansystematics.org/4th-edition-checklist?viewfamilies=119 |title= Melaphagidae |author= |date= |website= aviansystematics.org |publisher= The Trust for Avian Systematics |access-date= 2023-07-16}}

| type_species_authority = Lewin, 1808

}}

Meliphaga is a genus of birds in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae.

The genus was introduced by the English artist John Lewin in 1808.{{ cite book | last=Lewin | first=John William | author-link=John Lewin | title=Birds of New Holland, with their natural history | volume=1 (of one) | place=London | publisher=Printed for the author and published by J. White and S. Bagster | page=7 | url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1326995/view?partId=nla.obj-1343808#page/n22/mode/1up }} The name Meliphaga combines the Ancient Greek {{Transliteration|grc|meli}} meaning "honey" and {{Transliteration|grc|phagos}} meaning eating.{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url=https://archive.org/details/helmdictionarysc00jobl_997 | url-access=limited | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=[https://archive.org/details/helmdictionarysc00jobl_997/page/n249 249] }} The type species is Lewin's honeyeater (Meliphaga lewinii).{{ cite book | editor-last=Paynter | editor-first=Raymond A. Jr | year=1986 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=12 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=364 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14482481 }}{{ cite book | last=Gray | first=George Robert | author-link=George Robert Gray | year=1840 | title=A List of the Genera of Birds : with an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus | edition=1st | place=London | publisher=R. and J.E. Taylor | page=15 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13668909 }}

The genus contains three species:{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | year=2020 | title=Honeyeaters | work=IOC World Bird List Version 10.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/honeyeaters/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | accessdate=22 February 2020 }}

• Puff-backed honeyeater (Meliphaga aruensis)
• Yellow-spotted honeyeater (Meliphaga notata)
• Lewin's honeyeater (Meliphaga lewinii)

The genus formerly included additional species. When molecular phylogenetic studies found that Meliphaga contained two distinct clades, the genus was split and most of the species were moved to the resurrected genus Microptilotis leaving just three species in Meliphaga.{{ cite journal | last1=Andersen | first1=M.J. | last2=McCullough | first2=J.M. | last3=Friedman | first3=N.R. | last4=Peterson | first4=A.T. | last5=Moyle | first5=R.G. | last6=Joseph | first6=L. | last7=Nyári | first7=A.S. | year=2019 | title=Ultraconserved elements resolve genus-level relationships in a major Australasian bird radiation (Aves: Meliphagidae) | journal=Emu | volume=119 | issue=3 | pages=218–232 | doi=10.1080/01584197.2019.1595662 | bibcode=2019EmuAO.119..218A | s2cid=150056949 }}{{ cite journal | last1=McCullough | first1=J.M. | last2=Joseph | first2=L. | last3=Moyle | first3=R.G. | last4=Andersen | first4=M.J. | year=2019 | title=Ultraconserved elements put the final nail in the coffin of traditional use of the genus Meliphaga (Aves: Meliphagidae) | journal=Zoologica Scripta | volume=48 | issue=4 | pages=411–418 | doi=10.1111/zsc.12350 | doi-access=free }}