What is a honeyeater?

Honeyeaters are unique to Australasia with around 170 species recorded. Most honeyeaters are nectar feeding birds with long, brush-tipped tongues which function in the same way as a paintbrush, soaking up fluids by capillary action. Most honeyeaters can protrude their tongues well beyond the tips of their beaks, enabling nectar collection from the base of long tubular flowers or honeydew extraction from deep, narrow cracks in bark. They lap up these fluids at rates of 10 or more licks per second and can empty a flower in less than one second. Honeyeater beaks are thin, curved and sharply pointed, reflecting to some extent the sorts of flowers they frequent. Honeyeaters are not totally dependent on nectar. For some, such as the Helmeted Honeyeater, nectar forms only a small proportion of their diet.