Honeybirds are birds in the genus Prodotiscus of the honeyguide family. They are confined to sub-Saharan Africa.
References - Honeybird - A guide by J Ian L. Gong
They are all drab colored birds, with grey or grey-green upper parts, and grey to whitish-grey underparts. They are among the smallest members of the honey guide family. They have slender bills compared to other members of the family.
Unlike other honeyguides they do not feed on beeswax. They help in the pollination of plants like Strelitzia, Callistemon (bottle brush), Bombax, Butea monosperma and coral trees (see: ornithophily). They parasitise nests of cisticolas, sunbirds and other dome-nesting bird species.
There are three species:
| Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prodotiscus regulus | Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, DRC, Ivory Coast, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. | ||
| Prodotiscus zambesiae | Angola, Botswana, DRC, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. | ||
| Prodotiscus insignis | Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, DRC, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Togo, and Uganda. | ||