White–eyes

White-eyes are 86 species of small, perching song birds that constitute the family Zosteropidae. White-eyes occur in sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia, Japan, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, and many other islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

White-eyes are arboreal birds, occurring in a wide range of forest types, including mangroves, lowland forests, and montane forests. They also occur in brushy habitats, especially at higher altitude on mountains.

White-eyes are small birds, ranging in body length from 2.8-5.5 in (7-14 cm). They have a slender, pointed bill, with the upper mandible slightly downward curved. The wings are rounded, and the tail square-backed. The plumage is subdued in coloration, similar among the various species, and is most commonly brown, olive-green, gray, or yellow, the latter usually occurring on the throat or belly. Most species have a white-feathered eye-ring, from which these birds are given their common name. The sexes are similar in plumage.

White-eyes forage actively in trees and shrubs for insects and spiders. They also feed on fruits, nectar, and pollen. Some species poke holes into soft, larger fruits, and feed on the pulp and juice using specialized, brush-like structures at the ends of their tongues.

White-eyes commonly occur in flocks, which can be quite large during the nonbreeding season. They may also be part of mixed-species foraging flocks with other insectivorous birds.

White-eyes are territorial during the breeding season, when they declare their territories with soft, warbling songs. They build a deep, cup-shaped nest of woven fibers and spider webs, located in a horizontal fork of a branch. The clutch size is one to five. The eggs are incubated by both parents, who also share the feeding and care of the nestlings.

The genus Zosterops accounts for the vast majority of species in the family Zosteropidae. The oriental white-eye (Z. palpebrosa ) occurs from Afghanistan to south China, and south into Indonesia. The black-capped white-eye (Z. atricapilla ) occurs in the tropical forests of Sumatra, Borneo, peninsular Malaya, and Thailand in Southeast Asia.

The cinnamon white-eye (Hypocryptadius cinnamomeus ) is a brown-backed species, with a dark eye but lacking in a white eye-ring, that breeds in the Philippines.

Small, isolated island populations of white-eyes are suffering from the combined effects of habitat destruction and introduced predators. One recently extinct species—the robust white-eye (Z. strenuus ) of Lord Howe Island—became extinct during the first half of the twentieth century due to predation by introduced ship rats. All of the six species considered to be critically endangered by the IUCN are island species.

Bill Freedman