Gilbert’s Honeyeater

Gilbert's honeyeater (Melithreptus chloropsis), also known as the Swan River honeyeater or western white-naped honeyeater, is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to southwestern Australia. A mid-sized honeyeater, it is olive-green above and white below, with a black head, nape and throat and a white patch over the eye and a white crescent-shaped patch on the nape. The bill is brownish-black and the eyes a dull red. The sexes have similar plumage. == Taxonomy == Gilbert's honeyeater was originally described by John Gould in 1848, who gave it the species epithet chloropsis from the Ancient Greek terms chloros 'green-yellow' and opsis 'eye'. Gregory Mathews coined the name Melithreptus whitlocki in 1909 from a specimen collected by a Mr F. L. Whitlock from Wilson Inlet. Mathews stated that it was distinct due to having a white eye-ring year-round. This is no longer recognised as a distinguishing feature. Treated as a subspecies of the white-naped honeyeater for many years, Gilbert's honeyeater was found in a 2010 study to have diverged early on from the lunatus complex. It forms a superspecies with the white-naped and black-headed honeyeaters. It is a member of the genus Melithreptus, with several species of similar…