Lord Howe Silvereye
Encyclopedia
The Lord Howe Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis tephropleurus), also known as the Lord Howe White-eye, Lord Howe Island White-eye or, locally, as the “Little Grinnell”, is a small bird in the white-eye
family
, Zosteropidae. It is a subspecies
of the Silvereye
( Zosterops lateralis ), though sometimes considered a full species. It is endemic to Lord Howe Island
in the Tasman Sea
, part of New South Wales
, Australia
.
as well as around homes and gardens.
of palm fibre, grass and spider web
s, in which it lays a clutch of 2-4 small eggs in spring and summer.
insects from leaves and flowers, as well as eating small seeds, nectar and fruits, particularly guava and will come into gardens and houses, in which people may feed them mince meat and food scraps.
because of the restricted size of the population and area of its distribution.
White-eye
White-eye can refer to:*White-eye , a large family of birds.*White-eye , a species of fish.*White-eye mutation, a mutation in Drosophila melanogaster linked to the X chromosome, found by reciprocal cross breeding experiments in 1906.*A lioness member of the Marsh Pride of lions that have featured...
family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
, Zosteropidae. It is a subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
of the Silvereye
Silvereye
The Silvereye or Wax-eye is a very small passerine bird native to Australia, New Zealand and the south-west Pacific islands of Lord Howe, New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands, Vanuatu, and Fiji...
( Zosterops lateralis ), though sometimes considered a full species. It is endemic to Lord Howe Island
Lord Howe Island
Lord Howe Island is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, directly east of mainland Port Macquarie, and about from Norfolk Island. The island is about 11 km long and between 2.8 km and 0.6 km wide with an area of...
in the Tasman Sea
Tasman Sea
The Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, approximately across. It extends 2,800 km from north to south. It is a south-western segment of the South Pacific Ocean. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, the first recorded European...
, part of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Description
The Lord Howe Silvereye is sometimes treated as a full species. It differs from the nominate subspecies by being more robust, with larger feet and claws, a longer and heavier bill, with much olive-green on flanks, rump and lower back, and with canary yellow under-tail coverts.Distribution and habitat
The Lord Howe Silvereye is restricted to Lord Howe Island, where it widely distributed through the native subtropical rainforestRainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
as well as around homes and gardens.
Breeding
The bird builds a small cup-shaped nestBird nest
A bird nest is the spot in which a bird lays and incubates its eggs and raises its young. Although the term popularly refers to a specific structure made by the bird itself—such as the grassy cup nest of the American Robin or Eurasian Blackbird, or the elaborately woven hanging nest of the...
of palm fibre, grass and spider web
Spider web
A spider web, spiderweb, spider's web or cobweb is a device built by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets....
s, in which it lays a clutch of 2-4 small eggs in spring and summer.
Feeding
The silvereyes gleanGleaning (birds)
Gleaning is a term for a feeding strategy by birds in which they catch invertebrate prey, mainly arthropods, by plucking them from foliage or the ground, from crevices such as rock faces and under the eaves of houses, or even, as in the case of ticks and lice, from living animals. This behavior is...
insects from leaves and flowers, as well as eating small seeds, nectar and fruits, particularly guava and will come into gardens and houses, in which people may feed them mince meat and food scraps.
Status and conservation
The population of the Lord Howe Silvereye has been estimated at about 5,000 breeding birds and stable. It is considered VulnerableVulnerable species
On 30 January 2010, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 9694 Vulnerable species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and sub-populations.-References:...
because of the restricted size of the population and area of its distribution.