NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Kadavu Honeyeater
Meliphacator provocator (E. L. Layard, 1875)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
« Ptilotis provocator » = Xanthotis provocator (Kadavu Honeyeater)
Joseph Smit · Public domain · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Kadavu honeyeater (Meliphacator provocator) is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is the only species placed in the genus Meliphacator. It is endemic to the islands of Kadavu in Fiji. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and tropical mangrove forests.
The Kadavu honeyeater is described as being fairly large, somewhat resembling the spotted honeyeater, but with a yellowish-green bare skin eye-patch, bordered towards the rear by light green feathering on the ear coverts. It is dark streaked beneath with a whitish unstreaked central strip, and has upperparts which are greenish-grey with pale fringes to the wing feathers. This bird makes loud, ringing, friarbird-type calls, and prefers the tall mangroves along creek margins.
This species was previously placed in the genus Xanthotis. It was moved to Meliphacator based on the results of a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2019.
Wikipedia contributors, Kadavu honeyeater; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:29:54.330589+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Meliphacator provocator (E. L. Layard, 1875)
- Name authority
- (E. L. Layard, 1875)
- Common name
- Kadavu Honeyeater
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Meliphagidae
- Genus
- Meliphacator
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyMeliphagidae
- genusMeliphacator Mathews, 1930
- speciesMeliphacator provocator (E. L. Layard, 1875)
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Ptilotis provocator E. L. Layard, 1875 E. L. Layard, 1875 | synonym |
| Foulehaio provocator (E. L. Layard, 1875) (E. L. Layard, 1875) | synonym |
| Xanthotis provocator (E. L. Layard, 1875) (E. L. Layard, 1875) | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=1171812 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:8TQTW. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.