| White-eyes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis), adult (right) and juveniles | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Superfamily: | Sylvioidea |
| Family: | Zosteropidae Bonaparte, 1853 |
| Genera | |
See text | |
Thewhite-eyes are afamily,Zosteropidae, of smallpasserinebirds native to tropical, subtropical and temperateSub-Saharan Africa, southern and easternAsia, andAustralasia. White-eyes inhabit most tropical islands in theIndian Ocean, the westernPacific Ocean, and theGulf of Guinea. Discounting some widespread members of the genusZosterops, most species areendemic to single islands orarchipelagos. Thesilvereye,Zosterops lateralis, naturally colonisedNew Zealand, where it is known as the "wax-eye" ortauhou ("stranger"), from 1855. The silvereye has also beenintroduced to theSociety Islands inFrench Polynesia, while theJapanese white-eye has been introduced toHawaii.
White-eyes are mostly of undistinguished appearance, the plumage being generally greenish olive above, and pale grey below. Some species have a white or bright yellow throat, breast, or lower parts, and several have buff flanks. As their common name implies, many species have a conspicuous ring of tiny white feathers around their eyes.[1] The scientific name of the group also reflects this latter feature, being derived from theAncient Greek for "girdle-eye". They have rounded wings and strong legs. Like many other nectarivorous birds, they have slender, pointed bills, and brush-tipped tongues.[1][2] The size ranges up to 15 cm (5.9 in) in length.
All the species of white-eyes are sociable, forming large flocks that only separate on the approach of the breeding season. They build treesnests and lay two to four eggs which are usually pale blue.[3] Though mainly insectivorous, they eatnectar and fruits of various kinds. The silvereye can be a problem inAustralian vineyards, by piercing thegrape allowing infection or insect damage to follow.[4]
The family Zosteropidae was introduced (as a subfamily Zosteropinae) in 1853 by the French naturalistCharles Lucien Bonaparte.[5][6] The white-eyes were long considered a distinctfamily Zosteropidae because they are rather homogeneous inmorphology andecology, leading to littleadaptive radiation anddivergence.
The genusApalopteron, formerly placed in theMeliphagidae, was transferred to the white eyes in 1995 on genetic and behavioral evidence. It differs much in appearance from the typical white-eyes,Zosterops, but is approached by someMicronesiantaxa; its color pattern is fairly unusual save the imperfect white eye-ring.[7]
In 2003, Alice Cibois published the results of her study ofmtDNAcytochromeb and12S/16S rRNAsequence data. According to her results, the white-eyes were likely to form aclade also containing theyuhinas, which were until then placed with theOld World babblers, a large "wastebin" family.[8] Previous molecular studies (e.g. Sibley & Ahlquist 1990, Barkeret al. 2002) had together with the morphological evidence tentatively placed white-eyes as the Timaliidae's closest relatives already. But some questions remained, mainly because the white-eyes are all very similar birds in habitus and habits, while the Old World babblers are very diverse (because, as we now know, the group as formerly defined waspolyphyletic).
Combined with the yuhinas (and possibly other Timaliidae), the limits of the white-eye clade to the "true" Old World babblers becomes indistinct. Therefore, the current (early 2007) opinion weighs towards merging the group into the Timaliidae, perhaps as asubfamily ("Zosteropinae"). Few white-eyes have been thoroughly studied with the new results in mind, however, and almost all of these are fromZosterops which even at this point appearsover-lumped. Also, many "Old World babblers" remain in unresolved relationships. Whether there can be a clear delimitation of a white-eye subfamily or even a young or emerging family is a question that requires a more comprehensive study of both this group and Timaliidae to resolve (Jønsson & Fjeldså 2006).
For example, a revision of the yuhinas and the genusStachyris (Ciboiset al. 2002), based on the same genes as Cibois (2003), revealed that the Philippine species placed in the latter genus by some were actually yuhinas. However, when the review by Jønsson & Fjeldså (2006) was published, no study had tried to propose a phylogeny for the newly defined yuhinas including the white eyes. Therefore, Jønsson & Fjeldså (2006) give a rather misleading phylogeny for the group. It appears as if the yuhinas are polyphyletic, with thewhite-collared yuhina being closer to the ancestor of theZosterops white-eyes than to other yuhinas including the species moved fromStachyris (Ciboiset al. 2002).
In the past, theMadanga (Madanga ruficollis) was included in this family but studies now place it as an atypical member of theMotacillidae.[9]
The cladogram below showing the relationships between families is based on a study of babblers by Tianlong Cai and collaborators published in 2019.[10][11]
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The cladogram below showing the relationships between the genera is based on the study by Carl Oliveros and collaborators that was published in 2021. The generaApalopteron,Tephrozosterops andRukia were not sampled in this study. The genusMegazosterops was found to be nested inHeleia.[12] The earlier study by Cai and collaborators found a generally similar phylogeny but withCleptornis assister toHeleia. Cai's study found thatApalopteron was nested withinHeleia with weak support and thatTephrozosterops was sister toZosterops.[10]
| Zosteropidae |
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The family contains 149 species divided into 13 genera:[11]
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| Other | |
