The black-headed honeyeater (Melithreptus affinis) is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae.

[citation needed] Despite its name, the black-headed honeyeater eats predominantly insects.

The next closest relative outside the genus is the much larger, but similarly marked, blue-faced honeyeater.

[3] More recently, DNA analysis has shown honeyeaters to be related to the Pardalotidae (pardalotes), Acanthizidae (Australian warblers, scrubwrens, thornbills, etc.

The black-headed honeyeater is endemic to Tasmania as well as King Island and the Furneaux Group, where it inhabits wet and dry sclerophyll forests, as well as scrub and heathland, and subalpine habitats to an altitude of 1200 m (4000 ft).