The New Georgia White-eyes or Solomon Islands White-eye (Zosterops kulambangrae) is a species of bird in the Zosteropidae family.
Distribution / Range
It is endemic to the New Georgia Islands in the Solomon Islands. It is also known as Zosterops rendovae but this name properly refers to the Grey-throated White-eye.
There are three distinct subspecies:
- Z. k. kulambangrae is widespread in the New Georgia Group, occurring on Kolombangara, Vonavona, Kohinggo, New Georgia, Vangunu and Nggatokae.
- Z. k. paradoxus is found only on Rendova and
- Z. k. tetiparius only on Tetepare.
The three subspecies differ in their ability to disperse. While Z. k. kulambangrae regularly visits small islets, the other two subspecies have never been recorded away from their respective home islands which lie just 3.4 km apart.
Description
It is 12 cm long and mainly green above and olive-yellow below. It has a narrow white ring around the eye, a blackish forehead and lores, a black bill, and yellowish legs.
References
- BirdLife International (2009) Zosterops kulambangrae In IUCN 2009. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. www.iucnredlist.org Retrieved on 9 January 2010.
- Mees, G. F. (1955). “The name of the white-eye from Rendova Island (Solomon Islands)”. Zoologische Mededelingen 33 (28): 99–100. http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/150019.
- Mayr, Ernst and Jared M. Diamond (2001). The Birds of Northern Melanesia: Speciation, Ecology and Biogeography. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195141702. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=AUUQsAuk9qsCand%20pg=PA492and%20dq=%22zosterops+rendovae%22and%20as_brr=3and%20client=firefox-aand%20cd=3#v=onepageand%20q=%22zosterops%20rendovae%22and%20f=false.
- Doughty, Chris; Nicolas Day and Andrew Plant (1999). Birds of the Solomons, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia. London: Christopher Helm.
Further Reading
- Old World Babblers
- White-eye Information Page
- White-eye Species Photo Gallery
