Silvereye
Species of bird
The silvereye or wax-eye (Zosterops lateralis) is a very small omnivorous passerine bird of the south-west Pacific. In Australia and New Zealand its common name is sometimes white-eye, but this name is more commonly used to talk about all members of the genus Zosterops, or the entire family Zosteropidae.
Silvereye | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Zosteropidae |
Genus: | Zosterops |
Species: | Z. lateralis
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Binomial name | |
Zosterops lateralis (Latham, 1801)
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In New Zealand, the silvereye was first recorded in 1832. It many more were seen in 1856, and it is assumed that a migrating flock was thrown eastwards by a storm.[2] As a self-introduced bird it is protected as a native New Zealand species. Its Māori name, tauhou, means "stranger" or more literally, "new arrival".
References
change- ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Zosterops lateralis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- ↑ "Silvereye". An Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 2012-09-06.