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Cape White-eye (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter leon
- Start date
cuckooroller
Registered User
Leon,
I guess they may have split this in your books. Here's the skinny:
Clement's 5° Ed. (updated 2003 & Sibley-Monroe (2003) as follows:
Zosterops pallidus CAPE WHITE-EYE
Z.p.pallidus -- Namibia to Transvaal and nw Cape Province
Z.p.sundevalli -- N Cape Province
Z.p.caniviridis -- E Botswana to w Transvaal
Z.p.virens -- S Mozambique to e Cape Province
This is the classification followed in the BF database.
For your information the much better Howard & Moore 3°Ed. 2003 as follows:
Zosterops pallidus CAPE WHITE-EYE
Z.p.pallidus -- Namibia, NW Cape Province
Z.p.sundevalli -- NE Cape Province, SW Transvaal, Orange Free State
Z.p.caniviridis -- Transvaal, SE Botswana
Z.p.capensis -- W Cape Province
Z.p.atmorii -- Inland S Cape Province
Z.p.virens -- E Cape Province to SE Transvaal
Unfortunately, you will find that to figure these things out we are forced to be aware of more than one classification.
I guess they may have split this in your books. Here's the skinny:
Clement's 5° Ed. (updated 2003 & Sibley-Monroe (2003) as follows:
Zosterops pallidus CAPE WHITE-EYE
Z.p.pallidus -- Namibia to Transvaal and nw Cape Province
Z.p.sundevalli -- N Cape Province
Z.p.caniviridis -- E Botswana to w Transvaal
Z.p.virens -- S Mozambique to e Cape Province
This is the classification followed in the BF database.
For your information the much better Howard & Moore 3°Ed. 2003 as follows:
Zosterops pallidus CAPE WHITE-EYE
Z.p.pallidus -- Namibia, NW Cape Province
Z.p.sundevalli -- NE Cape Province, SW Transvaal, Orange Free State
Z.p.caniviridis -- Transvaal, SE Botswana
Z.p.capensis -- W Cape Province
Z.p.atmorii -- Inland S Cape Province
Z.p.virens -- E Cape Province to SE Transvaal
Unfortunately, you will find that to figure these things out we are forced to be aware of more than one classification.
Rasmus Boegh
BF member
Without caring to much about taxonomy, the bird on the photo is indeed a Cape White-eye. Range alone would seperates it. However, there does seem to be a bit of confusion over how to recognize these (sub-)species. There are two main groups of Cape's. One being capensis with the yellowish throat and greyish underparts. The other being the virens group, where the grey on the underparts is replaced with olive-green. Several populations are known where virens & capensis integrate, the result being a mixture of the above. Z. pallidus has a yellowish throat aswell, but the distinctive flanks are peach-coloured. Z. senegalensis in South Africa appear almost completely yellow below. Also, Z. senegalensis is overall much brighter than any of the above.
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cuckooroller
Registered User
Leon,
I have some maps but can't figure them out. What is another name for Gauteng, and what exactly is included in Transvaal?
I have some maps but can't figure them out. What is another name for Gauteng, and what exactly is included in Transvaal?
cuckooroller
Registered User
Leon,
One should be aware that Zosterops is a rather strange genus in that it has a very high propensity to precocious speciation. Many members of this genus outside of Africa are insular and it doesn't take that long for them to develop an adequate degree of genetic divergence so that they may be deemed good species. This tendency is, however, not limited to the insular forms. It is enough for them to occupy for a time a so-called "forest island" that exist within Africa and obtain a certain habitat and temporal isolation from the original form and they will start differentiating.
One should be aware that Zosterops is a rather strange genus in that it has a very high propensity to precocious speciation. Many members of this genus outside of Africa are insular and it doesn't take that long for them to develop an adequate degree of genetic divergence so that they may be deemed good species. This tendency is, however, not limited to the insular forms. It is enough for them to occupy for a time a so-called "forest island" that exist within Africa and obtain a certain habitat and temporal isolation from the original form and they will start differentiating.
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Rasmus Boegh
BF member
Steve,
Transvaal was the former name of a province in north-eastern South Africa. Later it was divided into Eastern Transvaal (later renamed Mpumalanga), Northern Transvaal, Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Veereeniging (later renamed Gauteng), and part of North West prov. Look at the following map:
http://www.sabirding.co.za/birdspot/index.htm
If keeping the cursor still over an area of the map, a name will appear. Transvaal incl. "Limpopo Province", "Mpumalanga", "Gauteng" & part of "North-west province".
Transvaal was the former name of a province in north-eastern South Africa. Later it was divided into Eastern Transvaal (later renamed Mpumalanga), Northern Transvaal, Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Veereeniging (later renamed Gauteng), and part of North West prov. Look at the following map:
http://www.sabirding.co.za/birdspot/index.htm
If keeping the cursor still over an area of the map, a name will appear. Transvaal incl. "Limpopo Province", "Mpumalanga", "Gauteng" & part of "North-west province".
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cuckooroller
Registered User
Well, everything considered and looking at the olive-green underparts here we're looking at something from the virens group if not an intergrade.
Rasmus Boegh
BF member
Indeed Steve.
I am not going to comment about the taxonomy, as much work is obviously still needed here. The bird on the photo belongs to what many now call "Cape White-eye", that being split away from "Orange River White-eye" (pallidus). I am not going to comment if the bird on the photo belongs to the virens group, the capensis group or somewhere in between. Whatever the case is, those two groups are clearly members of the same species, as they have several stabil hybrid populations in just about every place they co-occur. The question is, if these two should be considered part of pallidus or split away as a species of their own... Note that pallidus also hybridises with both virens & capensis in a narrow zone of overlap in Free State. Perhaps the best argument for splitting virens & capensis away from pallidus is that their voices differ quite substantially.
I am not going to comment about the taxonomy, as much work is obviously still needed here. The bird on the photo belongs to what many now call "Cape White-eye", that being split away from "Orange River White-eye" (pallidus). I am not going to comment if the bird on the photo belongs to the virens group, the capensis group or somewhere in between. Whatever the case is, those two groups are clearly members of the same species, as they have several stabil hybrid populations in just about every place they co-occur. The question is, if these two should be considered part of pallidus or split away as a species of their own... Note that pallidus also hybridises with both virens & capensis in a narrow zone of overlap in Free State. Perhaps the best argument for splitting virens & capensis away from pallidus is that their voices differ quite substantially.
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cuckooroller
Registered User
Leon, Rasmus,
That being the case, and I agree in your assessment of the confusion within these forms, and since the database uses the SM I would suggest that Leon just leaves it Zosterops pallidus (Cape White-eye) while making a mental note to look at this bird again in the future considering these reservations and the clouded actual taxonomic picture surrounding these birds. Correction: The SM probably has it under the English Common Name of Pale White-eye.
That being the case, and I agree in your assessment of the confusion within these forms, and since the database uses the SM I would suggest that Leon just leaves it Zosterops pallidus (Cape White-eye) while making a mental note to look at this bird again in the future considering these reservations and the clouded actual taxonomic picture surrounding these birds. Correction: The SM probably has it under the English Common Name of Pale White-eye.
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cuckooroller
Registered User
They would call it Zosterops pallidus capensis
