A Taste of Honey

In 1859 Alfred Russel Wallace drew a line on a map. Thomas Henry Huxley (AKA ‘Darwin’s Bulldog’) coined it ‘Wallace’s Line’. It delineates a faunal boundary. The complex geographical features that underly the line help to explain why so many animals, including bird families, living on one side of the divide, are absent or barely represented on the opposing side of the division.

Honeyeaters, a hugely diverse family of birds, are blithely unaware of the presence of this line, yet they comply with its rules. There are currently 186 extant known species of Honeyeater, just one, the Indonesian Honeyeater, consistently breaches the regulations, all the rest are devoted to Australasia.

White-plumed Honeyeater © Jeff Clarke

Many of the Honeyeater tribe have evolved elaborate tongues with brush-like tips, creating an extra-surface area for snaffling, nectar. This is not a one-way transaction, many Australasian flowering plants are fertilised by Honeyeaters. There are most likely a myriad examples of honeyeaters being on a mutual evolutionary path with their preferred flowering plants, a known process from other parts of the world, but the evidence, or research, to support this proposition is scant, in Australia at least.

Lewin's Honeyeater © Jeff Clarke

Yellow Wattlebird © Jeff Clarke

Most of the Honeyeaters have a broader spectrum diet than just nectar, the majority also consume insects and other invertebrates to supplement their diet. Which begs the question: "which came first the lickin, or the six legs"?