Lemon-bellied white-eye

Lemon-bellied white-eye
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Zosteropidae
Genus:	Zosterops
Species:	Z. chloris
Binomial name
Zosterops chloris Bonaparte, 1850

The lemon-bellied white-eye (Zosterops chloris) is a species of bird in the Zosteropidae family. It is endemic to Indonesia, where it occurs on a number of islands from the Sunda Strait to the Aru Islands. It is present on several of the Lesser Sunda Islands as well as on parts of Sulawesi, as well as many smaller islands, but is absent from the larger islands of Borneo, Java, Sumatra and Timor. There are five sub-species of lemon-bellied white-eye.

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. Their diet consists of invertebrates, fruits, and nectar. They have strong dark grey legs, a dark colored beak, and generally range in size from 11–12 cm. They are a yellow-olive color on the dorsal side, with characteristic bright yellow underparts. The sub-species Z.c. flavissimus, found on the Wakatobi Islands, is described as being the yellowest of the sub-species.

References

• COATES, B. J. & BISHOP, K. D. 1997. A guide to the birds of Wallacea : Sulawesi, the Moluccas and Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia, Alderley, Qld., Dove.
• VAN BALEN, B. 2008. Family Zosteropidae (White-eyes). In: HOYO, J. D., ELLIOTT, A., SARGATAL, J. & CABOT, J. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world. Barcelona : Lynx Edicions, c1992-.