Swinhoe's white-eye
Species of bird
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Swinhoe's white-eye (Zosterops simplex) is a bird species in the white-eye family, Zosteropidae. It is found in eastern China, Taiwan, north Vietnam, the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo. Additionally, populations have also been introduced to Southern California, where their population has been expanding rapidly.[1]
| Swinhoe's white-eye | |
|---|---|
| |
| In Hong Kong | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Zosteropidae |
| Genus: | Zosterops |
| Species: | Z. simplex |
| Binomial name | |
| Zosterops simplex R. Swinhoe, 1861 | |
Taxonomy
Swinhoe's white-eye was formally described in 1861 by the English naturalist Robert Swinhoe, who assigned it the binomial name Zosterops simplex.[2] The genus Zosterops had been introduced by the naturalists Nicholas Vigors and Thomas Horsfield in 1827.[3] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek words zōstēros meaning "belt" or "girdle" and ōpos meaning "eye". The specific epithet simplex is Latin meaning "simple" or "plain".[4]
This species was previously considered a subspecies group of the Japanese white-eye (Zosterops japonicus), but based on the results of a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2018, it was elevated it to full species status.[5][6]
Five subspecies are recognised:[6]
- Z. s. simplex R. Swinhoe, 1861 – eastern China, Taiwan and extreme northeast Vietnam
- Z. s. hainanus Hartert, 1923 – Hainan (off southeast China)
- Z. s. erwini (Chasen, 1935) – coastal Thai-Malay Peninsula, lowland Sumatra, Riau Islands, Bangka Island, Natuna Islands and lowland west Borneo
- Z. s. williamsoni Robinson & Kloss, 1919 – Gulf of Thailand coast and west Cambodia
- Z. s. salvadorii Meyer, AB & Wiglesworth, 1894 – Enggano Island (west Sumatra)