Lord Howe silvereye

Last updated

Lord Howe silvereye
Lord Howe Silvereye.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Zosteropidae
Genus: Zosterops
Species: Z. lateralis
Subspecies:Z. l. tephropleurus
Trinomial name
Zosterops lateralis tephropleurus
Gould, 1855
Synonyms
  • Zosterops tephropleura
  • Zosterops tephropleurus

The Lord Howe silvereye (Zosterops lateralis tephropleurus), 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 ( Zosterops lateralis ), though sometimes considered a full species. It is endemic to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, part of New South Wales, Australia.

White-eye family of birds

The white-eyes are 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.

Family is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy; it is classified between order and genus. A family may be divided into subfamilies, which are intermediate ranks between the ranks of family and genus. The official family names are Latin in origin; however, popular names are often used: for example, walnut trees and hickory trees belong to the family Juglandaceae, but that family is commonly referred to as being the "walnut family".

Subspecies taxonomic rank subordinate to species

In biological classification, the term subspecies refers to one of two or more populations of a species living in different subdivisions of the species' range and varying from one another by morphological characteristics. A single subspecies cannot be recognized independently: a species is either recognized as having no subspecies at all or at least two, including any that are extinct. The term is abbreviated subsp. in botany and bacteriology, ssp. in zoology. The plural is the same as the singular: subspecies.

Contents

Description

The Lord Howe silvereye is sometimes treated as a full species. It differs from the nominate subspecies by being more robust, with larger feet and claws, a longer and heavier bill, with much olive-green on flanks, rump and lower back, and with canary yellow under-tail coverts. [1] [2]

Distribution and habitat

The Lord Howe silvereye is restricted to Lord Howe Island, where it widely distributed through the native subtropical rainforest as well as around homes and gardens. [3] [4]

Rainforest type of forest with high rainfall

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with annual rainfall in the case of tropical rainforests between 250 and 450 centimetres, and definitions varying by region for temperate rainforests. The monsoon trough, alternatively known as the intertropical convergence zone, plays a significant role in creating the climatic conditions necessary for the Earth's tropical rainforests.

Behaviour

Breeding

The bird builds a small cup-shaped nest of palm fibre, grass and spider webs, in which it lays a clutch of 2-4 small eggs in spring and summer. [5]

Bird nest nest for bird eggs

A bird nest is the spot in which a bird lays and incubates its eggs and raises its young. Although the term popularly refers to a specific structure made by the bird itself—such as the grassy cup nest of the American robin or Eurasian blackbird, or the elaborately woven hanging nest of the Montezuma oropendola or the village weaver—that is too restrictive a definition. For some species, a nest is simply a shallow depression made in sand; for others, it is the knot-hole left by a broken branch, a burrow dug into the ground, a chamber drilled into a tree, an enormous rotting pile of vegetation and earth, a shelf made of dried saliva or a mud dome with an entrance tunnel. The smallest bird nests are those of some hummingbirds, tiny cups which can be a mere 2 cm (0.79 in) across and 2–3 cm (0.79–1.18 in) high. At the other extreme, some nest mounds built by the dusky scrubfowl measure more than 11 m (36 ft) in diameter and stand nearly 5 m (16 ft) tall.

Spider web device created by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets, generally meant to catch its prey

A spider web, spiderweb, spider's web, or cobweb is a structure created by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets, generally meant to catch its prey.

Feeding

The silvereyes glean insects from leaves and flowers, as well as eating small seeds, nectar and fruits, particularly guava and will come into gardens and houses, in which people may feed them mince meat and food scraps.

Gleaning (birds)

Gleaning is a feeding strategy by birds in which they catch invertebrate prey, mainly arthropods, by plucking them from foliage or the ground, from crevices such as rock faces and under the eaves of houses, or even, as in the case of ticks and lice, from living animals. This behavior is contrasted with hawking insects from the air or chasing after moving insects such as ants. Gleaning, in birds, does not refer to foraging for seeds or fruit.

Status and conservation

The population of the Lord Howe silvereye has been estimated at about 5,000 breeding birds and stable. It is considered Vulnerable because of the restricted size of the population and area of its distribution. [6]

Vulnerable species IUCN conservation category

A vulnerable species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as likely to become endangered unless the circumstances that are threatening its survival and reproduction improve.

Notes

  1. ↑ Hindwood, p.72.
  2. ↑ Schodde & Mason, p.688.
  3. ↑ Schodde & Mason, p.688.
  4. ↑ Hutton.
  5. ↑ Hutton.
  6. ↑ Garnett & Crowley, pp.608 and 633.

Related Research Articles

Pied currawong A medium-sized black passerine bird native to eastern Australia and Lord Howe Island

The pied currawong is a medium-sized black passerine bird native to eastern Australia and Lord Howe Island. One of three currawong species in the genus Strepera, it is closely related to the butcherbirds and Australian magpie of the family Artamidae. Six subspecies are recognised. It is a robust crowlike bird averaging around 48 cm (19 in) in length, black or sooty grey-black in plumage with white undertail and wing patches, yellow irises, and a heavy bill. The male and female are similar in appearance. Known for its melodious calls, the species' name currawong is believed to be of indigenous origin.

Silvereye species of very small omnivorous passerine bird of the south-west pacific

The silvereye or wax-eye 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.

Lord Howe gerygone species of bird

The Lord Howe gerygone was a small bird in the family Acanthizidae, brown and greyish in color. Its head was brown apart from a pale grey eye-ring and a grey throat and chin, many parts of the animal varied to the colour of yellow, this being apparent in its bright yellow belly. It made its home in the canopies of the island's forest until the early 20th century. The bird has had a variety of monikers: locally, it was known as the "rain-bird" due to its activity after the rains, or the "pop-goes-the-weasel", due to the similarity of its song to the well-known tune. Another name for this bird is the Lord Howe gerygone flyeater. The bird was endemic to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea. There have been no records of the species since 1928, and it is considered to be extinct. Its extinction is almost certainly due to predation by black rats which were accidentally introduced to the island in 1918 following the shipwreck of the SS Makambo there.

Robust white-eye species of bird

The robust white-eye, also known as the Lord Howe white-eye or robust silvereye, and locally as the "big grinnell", was a species of bird in the family Zosteropidae. It was endemic to the lowland forests of Lord Howe Island, east of Australia.

Western silvereye species of bird

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.

Lord Howe pigeon subspecies of bird

The Lord Howe pigeon, Columba vitiensis godmanae, was a subspecies of the metallic pigeon which existed on Lord Howe Island. It became extinct in the 1850s.

Muirs corella subspecies of bird

Muir's corella is a stocky, medium-sized white cockatoo endemic to Western Australia. It was the threatened nominate subspecies of the western corella. It was removed from the WA’s threatened species list in November 2012 as a result of successful conservation efforts.

SS <i>Makambo</i>

SS Makambo was a steamship first owned by Burns Philp & Co. Ltd. She was built in Port Glasgow in Scotland and named after an island in the Solomon Islands. She carried both passengers and cargo and was principally used on routes between eastern Australia and islands in Melanesia and the Tasman Sea. In November 1908 Jack and Charmian London travelled from Guadalcanal to Sydney on the Makambo after abandoning their ill fated circumnavigation on the Snark, a 45' sailing yawl.

Lord Howe fantail subspecies of bird

The Lord Howe fantail, also known as the Lord Howe Island fantail or fawn-breasted fantail, was a small bird in the fantail family, Rhipiduridae. It is an extinct subspecies of the New Zealand fantail. It was endemic to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, part of New South Wales, Australia.

Lord Howe boobook subspecies of bird

The Lord Howe boobook, also known as the Lord Howe morepork, was a bird in the true owl family endemic to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, part of New South Wales, Australia. It is an extinct and little-known subspecies of the Southern boobook.

Lord Howe parakeet species of bird

The Lord Howe parakeet, also known as the Lord Howe red-fronted parakeet, is an extinct parrot endemic to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, part of New South Wales, Australia. It was described as full species by Tommaso Salvadori in 1891, but subsequently it has been regarded as subspecies of the red-crowned parakeet. In 2012, the IOC World Bird List recognised it as species.

Lord Howe currawong subspecies of bird

The Lord Howe currawong, Lord Howe Island currawong or Lord Howe pied currawong, is a large and mainly black passerine bird in the Artamidae family. It is endemic to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, part of New South Wales, Australia, and is a threatened subspecies of the pied currawong.

Lord Howe golden whistler subspecies of bird

The Lord Howe golden whistler, also known as the Lord Howe whistler or Lord Howe Island golden whistler, and locally as the “robin” or “yellow robin”, is a small bird in the whistler family, Pachycephalidae. It is a subspecies of the Australian golden whistler that is endemic to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, part of New South Wales, Australia.

Norfolk golden whistler subspecies of bird

The Norfolk golden whistler, also known as the Norfolk Island whistler or Norfolk Island thickhead, and locally as the “tamey”, is a small bird in the whistler family, Pachycephalidae. It is a subspecies of the Australian golden whistler and endemic to Norfolk Island, an Australian territory in the Tasman Sea, between Australia and New Zealand.

Norfolk robin species of bird

The Norfolk robin, also known as the Norfolk Island scarlet robin or Norfolk Island robin, is a small bird in the Australasian robin family, Petroicidae. It is endemic to Norfolk Island, an Australian territory in the Tasman Sea, between Australia and New Zealand.

The Christmas Island swiftlet, also known as the Christmas glossy swiftlet or the Christmas cave swiftlet, is a small bird in the swift family Apodidae. It is endemic to Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the eastern Indian Ocean. It was formerly commonly treated as a subspecies of the glossy swiftlet.

Gouldii, a word referring to English naturalist John Gould (1804–1881), may refer to:

Capricorn silvereye subspecies of very small omnivorous passerine bird of the south-west pacific

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.

References


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.