Richard Schodde felt the genus was related to the black-headed honeyeaters of the genus "Melithreptus" and the blue-faced honeyeater ("Entomyzon cyanotis") based on their behaviour and appearance. However, DNA sampling in a 2004 study by Amy Driskell and Les Christidis showed that the genus was most closely related to the New Guinea genus "Melidectes", and that cooperative breeding evolved independently in more than one lineage of honeyeater. The genus "Manorina" is divided into two subgenera. The bell miner has a predominantly greenish plumage, different calls and skeletal differences and is possibly an early offshoot. It is classified in the subgenus "Manorina" while the other three form the subgenus "Myzantha". The latter had been previously classified as a separate genus, but reclassified within this one by German ornithologist Hans Friedrich Gadow in 1884.