Indian White-eye - BirdForum Opus

Nominate subspecies Z. p. palpebrosus
Photo by Yeshey Dorji
Taba, Western Bhutan, August 2004

Identification

9·6–11 cm (3¼-4¼ in)

Subspecies Z. p. occidentis
Photo by Alok Tewari
Ranikhet Hill Station, Alt. 6800 ft., Uttarakhand Himalayas, India, April-2018

From Afghanistan over Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Burma to Indochina. Also found on Sri Lanka and the Andamans as well as in isolated populations in Oman (Mahawt Island) and in southern Iran.

There are seven subspecies¹

Z. p. occidentis
- Northeastern Afghanistan east to western Himalayas, and northern and central India
Z. p. palpebrosus
- Central and eastern Himalayas east to southern China (Sichuan, Yunnan) and Myanmar; isolated populations on Mahawt Island, Oman, and in southern Iran have been assigned to nominate palpebralis, although this requires confirmation
Z. p. nilgiriensis
- Western India (Western Ghats); most populations elsewhere in southern peninsular India are more or less similar
Z. p. salimalii
- Southeastern Hyderabad, southeastern India
Z. p. egregius
- Sri Lanka
Z. p. siamensis
- Southern Myanmar east through Indochina
Z. p. nicobaricus
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Hill forests and wooded areas.

It builds a tree nest and lays 2-5 unspotted pale blue eggs.

Its diet mainly includes insects, but it will also eat nectar and fruits of various kinds.

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/
TrekNature
Birdforum thread which from about post 80 discusses the taxonomic changes leading to redefining the former Oriental White-eye

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Indian White-eye. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 14 May 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Indian_White-eye