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
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Zosteropidae
Genus: Zosterops
Species:
Z. lateralis
Binomial name
Zosterops lateralis
(Latham, 1801)
Subspecies flaviceps from Fiji

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
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Zosterops lateralis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. "Silvereye". An Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 2012-09-06.