Alternative names: Kulambangra White-eye; Hermit White-eye
- Zosterops murphyi
Identification
13-14 cm. A large white-eye.
- Very broad white eyering interrupted at front by darker loral line
- Pale greyish-yellow lores
- Faint dusky streak under eyering
- Olive-green rest of head and upperparts
- Brownish-black remiges and rectrices with olive-green edges
- Paler olive-green underparts with some yellow
- Black bill, yellowish base of lower mandible
Sexes similar, juveniles undescribed.
Distribution
Endemic to Kulambangra Island, Solomon Islands.
Common to abundant in the mountains of the island.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
Habitat
Found in mossy cloudforest from 950 m (sometimes lower) to 1620 m. Overlaps with Solomons White-eye at 950 to 1350 m.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on insects and small fruits.
Forages in the canopy of tall forests, usually above 5 m but also in lower vegetation at summit of Kolombangara. Often in large flocks of 100 or more birds and together with lorikeets and myzomelas.
Breeding
One nest with chicks recorded in October. The nest is a cup made of tiny dry twigs and placed 1.5 m high in a bush.
Movements
A resident species. Daily movements downslope in morning and back uphill in mid-afternoon.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved Jan 2018)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Kolombangara White-eye. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 9 November 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Kolombangara_White-eye
