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Species of bird

The white naped honeyeater (Melithreptus lunatus) is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to eastern Australia. Birds from southwestern Australia have been shown to be a distinct species, Gilbert's honeyeater, and the eastern birds are more closely related to the black headed honeyeater of Tasmania. One of several similar species of black headed honeyeaters in the genus Melithreptus, it dwells in dry sclerophyll eucalypt woodland. Its diet consists of nectar from various flowers, and it also feeds on insects.

The white naped honeyeater was originally described as Certhia lunata by French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1802. The specific epithet is derived from the Latin luna, meaning 'moon'; this refers to the crescent shaped, white marking on its nape. It is a member of the genus Melithreptus, with several species of similar size and (apart from the brown headed honeyeater) black headed appearance, in the honeyeater family, Meliphagidae. The next closest relative outside the genus is the much larger, but similarly marked, blue faced honeyeater. More recently, DNA analysis has shown honeyeaters to be related to the Pardalotidae (pardalotes), Acanthizidae (Australian warblers, scrubwrens, thornbills, etc. ), and the Maluridae (Australian fairy wrens) in the large superfamily Meliphagoidea. Gilbert's honeyeater, found in southwest Western Australia, was initially described as a separate species by John Gould in 1844, before being reclassified as a subspecies of the white naped for many years. However, a molecular study published in 2010 showed that it had diverged before the split of populations in eastern Australia into the white naped and black headed honeyeaters. "White naped honeyeater" has been designated as the official common name for the species by the International Ornithologists' Union (IOC).

A mid sized honeyeater at in length, it is olive green above and white below, with a black head, nape and throat, a red patch over the eye, and a white crescent shaped patch on the nape. It is thinner than other similar species. Juveniles have brownish crowns and an orange base of the bill. Its call is a mjerp mjerp.

It is found in eucalypt forest and woodlands. Its diet is principally nectar from a variety of flowers, supplemented by insects and various other invertebrates. White naped honeyeaters may nest from July to December, breeding once or twice during this time. The nest is a thick walled bowl of grasses and bits of bark in the fork of a tall tree, usually a eucalypt. Two or three eggs are laid, in size, and shiny, buff pink, sparsely spotted with red brown.