Green-backed White-eye
Zosterops xanthochroa
A classic small greenish-yellow white-eye species with bold white eye-rings. Common in more humid habitats throughout New Caledonia; mostly replaced by Silvereye in drier and more disturbed areas, though the two can be found together. Green-backed is plainer overall than Silverye, without any contrasting plumage apart from the eyering. Has a typical white-eye vocal repertoire, with a high-pitched wheezy warbling song and high-pitched piercing quavering call notes.
识别特征
The green-backed white-eye is 11.5–12.5 centimetres (4.5–4.9 in) in length and weighs around 8.5–12 grams (0.30–0.42 oz). The head and back are dark olive green with a wide white eye-ring and black lores (which breaks the eye-ring at the front), the throat and breast are yellow and the undersides are dirty white. The wings are brown and olive green. The bill is slate coloured with white at the base of the lower mandible, and the legs are pale slate coloured as well. Both sexes are alike, but the plumage of juvenile birds has not been described.
分类信息
The green-backed white-eye was described by George Robert Gray in 1858 from a specimen collected in Nu. The relationships between this species and other white-eyes are uncertain, but it may form a superspecies with the small Lifou white-eye, also from New Caledonia, the Fiji white-eye and the yellow-fronted white-eye (from Vanuatu). This speculative proposal is based upon the shared yellow underparts and their living in the same general region.
- 学名
- Zosterops xanthochroa
- 命名信息
- Gray, GR, 1859
- 目
- Passeriformes
- 科
- Zosteropidae
- 属
- Zosterops
分布与栖息地
The green-backed white-eye is endemic to the islands of New Caledonia, where it is found on Grande Terre, the main island, the smaller L'Île-des-Pins, as well as Maré in the Loyalty Islands. It is replaced on Lifou by the small and large Lifou white-eyes. It is primarily a bird of primary rainforest, from sea level up, although it becomes rare above 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). It will also enter native gardens and open glades, as well as more open areas opportunistically in order to reach ripening fruit and berries. In the more open brush and woodland habitats it is generally replaced by the related silvereye.<p>Although the green-backed white-eye has a tiny global range, it is common in its range, especially in the south of Grande Terre and the island of Maré. The species is thought to be decreasing in numbers, due to habitat loss and habitat fragmentation, but not at a rate sufficient to be evaluated as vulnerable. It is therefore listed as least concern by the IUCN. In a study of cave fossils this species and the silvereye are the most commonly found fossil remains.
- 迁徙
- Resident species
行为
Green-backed white-eyes feed on a variety of fruits and insects. Among the fruits taken are papaya and the berries of the introduced Lantana. They will form feeding flocks after the breeding season, which may increase in size as the months pass. Such flocks will also venture outside the primary rainforests in order to take seasonally variable food sources, and will form mixed species feeding flocks with silvereyes, fan-tailed gerygones, and red-throated parrotfinches. They are themselves preyed upon by barn owls.<p>The main breeding season for this species is from August to October, but there is considerable uncertainty about the exact timing and it is possible the season extends to January or that the species double broods. The species builds a nest of rootlets, hair, feathers, and cobwebs in the fork of a branch of a tree or shrub. Between two and four turquoise eggs are laid, measuring 16.5 by 13 mm.
保护状况
- 种群趋势
- declining
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
White-capped Albatross
Thalassarche cauta
A medium-sized dark-backed albatross with pale underwings outlined by a narrow dark border and a dark notch in the armpit. The adult has a whitish head with grayish cheeks that give it a “white-capped” appearance. The gray-green bill has a yellowish tip to both mandibles. Juveniles are grayer on the head with gray bills. The species breeds on islands off Tasmania and New Zealand but disperses widely across the southern Oceans between 15 and 60°S, where it is a frequently encountered pelagic seabird. Similar albatrosses have a dark-tipped (not pale-tipped) lower half to the bill, and Salvin’s Albatross has a pale gray head and Chatham Albatross a slaty-gray head, further differentiating them from White-capped Albatross. Juveniles of these three are very difficult to separate.
Black Cuckooshrike
Campephaga flava
Small, slim cuckooshrike in which males and females are strikingly different. Males are almost completely black with an odd pale patch at the base of the bill; some have a yellow shoulder Females are gray on the back and pale below, with heavy markings throughout. Partially migratory and found in a variety of woodland and savanna habitats. Quiet and unobtrusive. Often found in pairs. Call is an incredibly dry, high-pitched trill. Male separated from male Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike by its black or yellow rather than red shoulder. Females are very similar, but female Black Cuckooshrike has a mostly pale undertail and a greenish back.
Sickle-winged Nightjar
Eleothreptus anomalus
While perched, appears to be an unassuming nightjar: rather small, short-tailed, and largely gray with dark brown spots. In flight, males are spectacular, with unique flight feathers forming the “sickle” wing shape. Females lack these modified wing feathers. Usually found close to water, around gallery forest; in some areas also in grassland and marshes. The call is a repetition of very subtle “chip” notes.
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