Long-billed white-eye
Species of bird
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The long-billed white-eye (Rukia longirostra), known as tiht in Pohnpeian, is a species of bird in the family Zosteropidae. It is endemic to the island of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia.
| Long-billed white-eye | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Zosteropidae |
| Genus: | Rukia |
| Species: | R. longirostra |
| Binomial name | |
| Rukia longirostra (Taka-Tsukasa & Yamashina, 1931) | |
The long-billed white-eye seems quite distinct in both plumage, structure, and habits from the teardrop white-eye Rukia ruki – the type species of genus Rukia – and may deserve a change of genus, possibly to Zosterops like the olive-colored white-eye (Z.oleagineus, formerly Rukia oleaginea).
Ecology
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, and plantations. It is considered near-threatened by habitat loss.
It has a curious nuthatch-like behavior of creeping along large tree limbs, and seems particularly specialized in using its long, slightly decurved bill to extract arthropods from the severed ends of branches.
