Definition of "honeycreeper" []

• Any of various small, often brightly colored tropical American birds of the family Coerebidae, having a curved bill adapted for sucking nectar from flowers. (noun)
• Any of several birds of the family Drepanididae of Hawaii, similar to the mainland honeycreepers. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The term "honeycreeper" was originally associated with two groups of birds, once thought to be related: the Hawaiian Honeycreepers (Drepanidinae) and the Neotropical honeycreepers (Coerebidae)."
• "Because this fire now threatens a relatively pristine native rain forest that is home to Hawaii's famous happyface spiders and honeycreeper songbirds, Park officials are quite rightly doing everything they can to stop it."
• "For instance, over 40 species of exquisite honeycreeper songbirds ultimately evolved from a single finch-like ancestor."