| Green-backed white-eye [1] | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Zosteropidae |
| Genus: | Zosterops |
| Species: | Z. xanthochroa |
| Binomial name | |
| Zosterops xanthochroa G.R. Gray, 1859 | |
The green-backed white-eye (Zosterops xanthochroa) is a species of bird in the family Zosteropidae. It is also known as the New Caledonian white-eye. It is endemic to New Caledonia.
The green-backed white-eye was described by George Robert Gray in 1858 from a specimen collected in Nu. The relationships between this species and other white-eyes are uncertain, but it may form a superspecies with the small Lifou white-eye, also from New Caledonia, the Fiji white-eye and the yellow-fronted white-eye (from Vanuatu). This speculative proposal is based upon the shared yellow underparts and their living in the same general region. [3]
The green-backed white-eye is endemic to the islands of New Caledonia, where it is found on Grande Terre, the main island, the smaller L'Île-des-Pins, as well as Maré in the Loyalty Islands. It is replaced on Lifou by the small and large Lifou white-eyes. It is primarily a bird of primary rainforest, from sea level up, although it becomes rare above 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). It will also enter native gardens and open glades, as well as more open areas opportunistically in order to reach ripening fruit and berries. In the more open brush and woodland habitats it is generally replaced by the related silvereye. [3]
Although the green-backed white-eye has a tiny global range, it is common in its range, especially in the south of Grande Terre and the island of Maré. The species is thought to be decreasing in numbers, due to habitat loss and habitat fragmentation, but not at a rate sufficient to be evaluated as vulnerable. [4] It is therefore listed as least concern by the IUCN. [2] In a study of cave fossils this species and the silvereye are the most commonly found fossil remains. [5]
The green-backed white-eye is 11.5–12.5 centimetres (4.5–4.9 in) in length and weighs around 8.5–12 grams (0.30–0.42 oz). The head and back are dark olive green with a wide white eye-ring and black lores (which breaks the eye-ring at the front), the throat and breast are yellow and the undersides are dirty white. The wings are brown and olive green. The bill is slate coloured with white at the base of the lower mandible, and the legs are pale slate coloured as well. Both sexes are alike, but the plumage of juvenile birds has not been described. [3]
Green-backed white-eyes feed on a variety of fruits and insects. Among the fruits taken are papaya and the berries of the introduced Lantana . They will form feeding flocks after the breeding season, which may increase in size as the months pass. Such flocks will also venture outside the primary rainforests in order to take seasonally variable food sources, and will form mixed species feeding flocks with silvereyes, fan-tailed gerygones, and red-throated parrotfinches. [3] They are themselves preyed upon by barn owls. [5]
The main breeding season for this species is from August to October, but there is considerable uncertainty about the exact timing and it is possible the season extends to January or that the species double broods. The species builds a nest of rootlets, hair, feathers, and cobwebs in the fork of a branch of a tree or shrub. Between two and four turquoise eggs are laid, measuring 16.5 by 13 mm. [3]
Zosterops is a genus of passerine birds containing the typical white-eyes in the white-eye family Zosteropidae. The genus has the largest number of species in the white-eye family. They occur in the Afrotropical, Indomalayan, and Australasian realms. Typical white-eyes have a length of between 8 and 15 cm. Their most characteristic feature is a conspicuous white feather ring around the eye, though some species lack it. The species in this group vary in the structural adaptations of the tongue. The Zosterops [griseotinctus] group is an example of a "great speciator" inhabiting a vast area and showing a remarkable morphological differentiation on islands, some of which may be as close as 2 km (1.2 mi) apart.
The white-eyes are a family, Zosteropidae, of small passerine birds native to tropical, subtropical and temperate Sub-Saharan Africa, southern and eastern Asia, and Australasia. White-eyes inhabit most tropical islands in the Indian Ocean, the western Pacific Ocean, and the Gulf of Guinea. Discounting some widespread members of the genus Zosterops, most species are endemic to single islands or archipelagos. The silvereye, Zosterops lateralis, naturally colonised New Zealand, where it is known as the "wax-eye" or tauhou ("stranger"), from 1855. The silvereye has also been introduced to the Society Islands in French Polynesia, while the Japanese white-eye has been introduced to Hawaii.
The silvereye or wax-eye, also known by its Māori name tauhou, is a very small omnivorous passerine bird of the south-west Pacific. In Australia and New Zealand its common name is sometimes white-eye, but this name is more commonly used to refer to all members of the genus Zosterops, or the entire family Zosteropidae.
The Indian white-eye, formerly the Oriental white-eye, is a small species of passerine bird in the white-eye family. It is a resident breeder in open woodland on the Indian subcontinent. They forage in small groups, feeding on nectar and small insects. They are easily identified by the distinctive white eye-ring and overall yellowish upperparts. The range previously extended eastwards to Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Malaysia. Their name was recently changed due to previous members of Zosterops palpebrosus in Southeast Asia being renamed to a new species, making the Indian White-eye a more geographically accurate term for this species.
The superb fruit dove, also known as the purple-crowned fruit dove, is a medium-sized, colourful fruit-dove in the family Columbidae.
The white-chested white-eye also known as white-breasted white-eye or Norfolk white-eye was a passerine from the family Zosteropidae. It was endemic to Norfolk Island between New Caledonia and New Zealand and was regarded as either extremely rare or possibly extinct. Since 2000 the Australian government has considered the species extinct.
The Bonin white-eye is a small species of songbird endemic to the Bonin Islands of Japan. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Apalopteron. The taxonomic affinities of the Bonin white-eye were a long-standing mystery and it was formerly placed with the bulbuls, babblers and more recently with the honeyeaters, during which it was known as the Bonin honeyeater. Since 1995 it is known to be a white-eye in the family Zosteropidae, that is closely related to the golden white-eye of the Marianas Islands.
Sanford's white-eye is a species of bird in the family Zosteropidae. It is endemic to Nendo Island. It is named after Leonard Cutler Sanford, a trustee of the American Museum of Natural History.
The Fiji white-eye is a species of passerine bird in the white-eye family Zosteropidae. The species is also known as Layard's white-eye.
The lowland white-eye is a species of bird in the family Zosteropidae. It is near endemic to the northern part of the Philippines but is also found on the Taiwanese islands of Lüdao and Lanyu. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forest, second growth and gardens.
The small Lifou white-eye, also known as the sulphur white-eye, is a species of bird in the family Zosteropidae. It is endemic to the island of Lifou in New Caledonia.
The yellowish white-eye or golden-yellow white-eye, is a species of bird in the family Zosteropidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests.
The robust white-eye, also known as the Lord Howe white-eye or robust silvereye and locally as the "big grinnell", is an extinct species of bird in the family Zosteropidae. It was endemic to the lowland forests of Lord Howe Island, east of Australia.
The Lord Howe silvereye, also known as the Lord Howe white-eye, Lord Howe Island white-eye or, locally, as the "Little Grinnell", is a small bird in the white-eye family, Zosteropidae. It is a subspecies of the silvereye, though sometimes considered a full species. It is endemic to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, part of New South Wales, Australia.
Kirk's white-eye is a species of bird in the family Zosteropidae. It is endemic to the Comoros Islands. It was previously considered a subspecies of the Malagasy white-eye. Its common and binomial name are in honour of explorer John Kirk.
The Togian white-eye is a species of bird in the family Zosteropidae.
The western silvereye is a small greenish bird in the Zosteropidae or White-eye family. It is a subspecies of the silvereye that occurs in Western Australia and South Australia. It is sometimes called the white-eye or greenie. Aboriginal names for the bird include jule-we-de-lung or julwidilang from the Perth area and poang from the Pallinup River.
The Capricorn silvereye, also known as the Capricorn white-eye or green-headed white-eye, is a small greenish bird in the Zosteropidae or white-eye family. It is a subspecies of the silvereye that occurs on islands off the coast of Queensland in north-eastern Australia, and which is sometimes considered to be a full species.
The Meratus white-eye is a species of bird in the white-eye family, Zosteropidae. The species was described in 2021 by the Indonesian ornithologist Mohammed Irham and his colleagues based on genetic, morphological, and vocal differences from other Zosterops white-eyes. It is endemic to the Meratus Mountains of Indonesian Borneo, where it has been observed on Mount Besar and Mount Karokangen. It inhabits the mid and lower storeys of closed-canopy montane forests at elevations between 1,300 and 1,650 m. It is a typical Zosterops white-eye, with deep olive-green upperparts, yellower underparts, a yellow stripe across the lores, and a distinctive bicoloured bill. Adults have a length of around 11–12 cm (4.3–4.7 in) and a mass of 8.5–9.5 g (0.30–0.34 oz). Both sexes look alike.
