Green Iora
Aegithina viridissima
A medium-sized canopy-dweller of lowland and foothill forests, often seen with mixed flocks. Male is dark olive-green with boldly black-and-white-striped wings; female is paler, with an olive back and a less contrasting wing pattern. Look for bright yellow “goggles” around dark eyes in both sexes; Common Iora lacks these goggles and has pale eyes, but these can be hard to discern. Song is high, simple, and repetitive: “wit-dee, wit-dee, wit-dee” or “chew-a-wee-chew, chew-a-wee.” Calls vary, but the most common ones are downslurred and rather nasal-sounding.
Identification
The green iora is 12–14 cm (4.7–5.5 in) long. The male has black lores and bright yellow "eyelids" (a broken eye-ring). The face and upperparts are dark olive. The wings are black, with two white wing-bars on the covert feathers and olive-yellow margins on the flight feathers. The underparts are also dark olive, with lighter flanks and a yellow centre belly. The tail is black. The eyes are dark to red brown, the beak is grey-blue, and the feet are slaty blue. The female has yellow lores and a complete eye-ring. The upperparts and tail are medium olive. The wings are similar to those of the male but are washed olive, and the wing-bars are yellow instead. The underparts are olive green, with a yellow tint on the centre belly. The juvenile bird is similar to the female, but is paler.
Taxonomy
This species was described as Jora viridissima by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1850. Harry C. Oberholser described subspecies Aegithina viridissima thapsina from the Anamba Islands in 1917, noting its larger size and yellower plumage. These two subspecies are recognised by the IOC World Bird List, while Aegithina viridissima nesiotica described by Oberholser in 1912 is now included in the nominate subspecies.
- Scientific name
- Aegithina viridissima
- Authority
- (Bonaparte, 1850)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Aegithinidae
- Genus
- Aegithina
Range and habitat
This species is found in Tenasserim, the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo and some small neighbouring islands, and it is locally extinct in Singapore. It lives in the canopy of lowland forests up to 820 m (2,690 ft) in elevation, and is also found in tall secondary forest, peat swamp forest and mangrove forest.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Cameroon Indigobird
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