honeyeatern.
/ˈhʌnɪˌiːtə/, U.S. /ˈhəniˌidər/ 1. Any of various birds and mammals that feed on nectar or on honey or other contents of bees' nests; esp. (in later use) Hawaiian honeycreepers. Cf. honeysucker n.
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the world > animals > birds > actions or bird defined by > [noun] > that eats specific things
worm-fowlc1381
seed fowlc1500
thistle-eater1562
chipper1668
honeyeater1688
wheat-bird1747
falcon-fisher1759
worm-eater1760
bone-breaker1787
seed eater1820
carrion-bird1839
seed feeder1853
fish-tiger1879
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Mustelidae (weasel, marten, otter, or badger) > [noun] > genus Mellivora (honey badger)
rattle-mouse1731
ratel1777
honey badger1812
honey ratel1815
honeyeater1884
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > arboreal families > family Fringillidae (finch) > [noun] > subfamily Carduelinae > other types of
scarlet finch1783
honeyeater1995
1688 Index Indian Closset Acad. Leyden 7 A bird called the African honey-eater.
1731 G. Medley tr. P. Kolb Present State Cape Good-Hope II. 155 These Gnat-snappers, or Honey-eaters are a sort of guides to the Hottentots in the search of honey.
1768 Wonders Nature & Art (ed. 2) V. vi. 276 The honeyeaters or gnatsnappers, live intirely on honey, bees, gnats, and flies.
1812 G. A. Thompson Geogr. & Hist. Dict. Amer. & W. Indies II. 215/1 It also abounds in animals, as lions, tigers,..honey-eaters, [etc.].
1884 Standard Nat. Hist. V. 392 The ratels belong to the genus Mellivora, the Honey Eaters.
1932 Q. Rev. Biol. 7 409/2 Laysan is perhaps the most interesting of these lands, as it is the exclusive home of..the Laysan honeyeater.
1995 Nature 4 May 14/2 The i'iwi (Vestiaria coccinea ) is a Hawaiian honeyeater which..used to feed largely by extracting nectar from lobelioid flowers.
2. Any of numerous songbirds of the family Meliphagidae, many of which have a brush-tipped tongue for feeding on nectar, found in Australia, New Guinea, and adjacent areas.
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > arboreal families > [noun] > family Meliphagidae (honey-eater)
honeyeater1821
honeybird1835
honeysucker1837
meliphagan1842
honeycreeper1851
meliphagidan1890
meliphagine1890
meliphagid1964
1821 J. Latham Gen. Hist. Birds I. p. xxix Honey-eater... Bill sub-triangular, bent at tip; tongue ciliated.
1864–5 J. G. Wood Homes without Hands (1868) xxv. 470 In Australia there is a large group of rather pretty birds, popularly called Honey-eaters, because they feed largely on the sweet juices of many flowers.
1901 A. J. Campbell Nests & Eggs Austral. Birds I. 354 The range of the splendid little Black Honeyeater extends across the southern part of Australia.
1964 A. L. Thomson New Dict. Birds 375/2 The diet of the majority of honeyeaters consists of a mixture of nectar, pollen, and insects.
2002 National Geographic July 112/2 Pollen-tipped anthers of the kangaroo paw plant stroke an Australian singing honeyeater as it drinks.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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