- Zosterops pallidus
Identification
Length 12 cm, mass 8-15 g
Rounded wings, strong legs, marked eye-ring of white feathers. Upperparts olive-green; throat and vent are bright yellow.
Distribution
Central and southern Namibia and South Africa.
Taxonomy
A member of the Zosteropidae family (Swainson, 1838)
Subspecies[1]
- Z. pallidus
- Namibia and northern South Africa (Northern Cape, North West, and Free State)
- Pale yellow central belly, with peach-coloured flanks
Formerly considered conspecific with Cape White-eye, but they are no longer considered each others closest relatives.
Habitat
Forest, woodland, thickets plantations and gardens. Prefers drier, more open woodland than Cape White-eye.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds mainly on insects, but also soft fleshy flowers, nectar, fruit and small grains. It will come to bird feeders.
Breeding
Breeding season is September to December. Builds a cup nest in a tree, lays 2-3 pale blue eggs, which hatch in 11-12 days. Young fledge in 12-13 days.
Vocalisation
The call is a sweet twee tuuu twee twee, higher pitched and more trilled in the Orange River White-eye. The territorial call is very loud.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2014. IOC World Bird Names (version 4.3). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
- Birdforum thread discussing taxonomy of Southern African White-eyes
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Orange River White-eye. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Orange_River_White-eye
