Alternative names: Solomon Yellow-throated White-eye; Bukida White-eye; Metcalfe's White-eye
- Zosterops metcalfii
Identification
11-11.5 cm (4¼-4½ in)
- Dusky lores
- Narrow white eyering broken before and behind eye (often not seen in the field)
- Bright yellowish olive-green top and side of head and upperparts
- Blackish-brown remiges and rectrices, edged olive-green
- Bright yellow throat and upper breast
- Paler yellow undertail-coverts
- Greyish-white lower breast and abdomen
Sexes similar, juveniles similar to adults.
Variations
- floridanus without white eyering and slightly lighter and more yellowish above
- exiguus with paler yellow throat and upper breast
Distribution
Found on the Solomon Islands (including Bougainville (Papua New Guinea).
A common to abundant restricted-range species.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Two (or three) subspecies recognized[1]:
- Z. m. metcalfii on Bougainville, Buka, Shortland, Choiseul, Santa Isabel and Molakobi in northern and north-central Solomon Islands
- Z. m. floridanus on Florida Island (east-central Solomon Islands)
Birds from Buka, Shortland, Bougainville and Choiseul are also sometimes separated as Z. m. exiguus.
Habitat
Found in primary forest, in secondary growth, at forest edge, in gardens and in open areas with trees.
Occurs from sea-level up to hills, mainly up to 900 m, locally higher. Replaced at higher elevations by one of the species formerly placed in Grey-throated White-eye.
Behaviour
Often the dominant species in mixed-species foraging flocks. Usually seen in pairs or small flocks. Moves quickly through the canopy to middle level of forest, descending lower at forest edge and in secondary growth.
Diet
Feeds on fruits, grubs and insects.
Breeding
Breeding recorded from April to June, nestling also from November to January. The nest is a neatly woven thin bowl of grass slung by rim from small twigs up to 10 m above the ground in a thin leafy tree. Lays 2 eggs.
Movements
No information.
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 July 2014)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Yellow-throated White-eye. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 18 January 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Yellow-throated_White-eye
