Vanuatu white-eye

Vanuatu white-eye

Yellow-fronted white-eye

Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Family
Genus
SPECIES
Zosterops flavifrons

The Vanuatu white-eye or yellow-fronted white-eye (Zosterops flavifrons ) is a small passerine bird belonging to the genus Zosterops in the white-eye family Zosteropidae. It is endemic to Vanuatu, where it is one of the most common birds.

Show More

It is 11–12 cm (4.3–4.7 in) long. The adult male is yellow-green above while the underparts are bright yellow or yellow-green depending on the subspecies. The forehead is yellow and there is a white ring around the eye. The legs and feet are dark grey and the bill is brown above and pinkish below. Female and immature birds are similar to the male but paler. The immatures also have a narrower eye-ring.

The contact call is short and high-pitched. The song is a repeated warbling.

There are seven subspecies distributed almost throughout Vanuatu from the Banks Islands in the north to Aneityum in the south. The species occurs in a variety of habitats including forest, plantations and gardens from sea level to the mountains. It forages in bushes and trees, moving around in pairs or small flocks. The varied diet includes insects, nectar and fruit such as lantana berries and wild figs.

The neat, cup-shaped nest is built 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) or more above the ground and is made of grass, pieces of bark and spider webs. The eggs are bluish-white and there are three in a clutch.

Show Less

Geography

Countries
Biogeographical realms

References

1. Vanuatu white-eye Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanuatu_white-eye
2. Vanuatu white-eye on The IUCN Red List site - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22714242/94407859

More Fascinating Animals to Learn About