Swinhoe's white-eye (Zosterops simplex) is a bird species in the white-eye family Zosteropidae. It is found in east China, Taiwan, north Vietnam, the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo. Populations have also been introduced throughout Southern California.

Swinhoe's white-eye
In Hong Kong
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Zosteropidae
Genus: Zosterops
Species:
Z. simplex
Binomial name
Zosterops simplex

Taxonomy

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Swinhoe's white-eye was formally described in 1861 by the English naturalist Robert Swinhoe and given the binomial name Zosterops simplex.[1] The genus Zosterops had been introduced by the naturalists Nicholas Vigors and Thomas Horsfield in 1827.[2] 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".[3]

This species was formerly treated as 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 promoted to species rank.[4][5]

Five subspecies are recognised:[5]

References

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  1. ^ Swinhoe, Robert (1861). "Notes on ornithology taken between Takoo and Peking, in the neighbourhood of the Peiho River, Province of Chelee, North China, from August to December, 1860". Ibis: 323–345 [331].
  2. ^ Vigors, Nicholas Aylward; Horsfield, Thomas (1827). "Australian birds in the collection of the Linnean Society; with an attempt at arranging them according to their natural affinities". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London (in English and Latin). 15 (1): 170–334 [234]. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1826.tb00115.x. The title page is dated 1826.
  3. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 414, 356. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. ^ Lim, B.T.M.; Sadanandan, K.R.; Dingle, C.; Leung, Y.Y.; Prawiradilaga, D.M.; Irham, M.; Ashari, H.; Lee, J.G.H.; Rheindt, F.E. (2018). "Molecular evidence suggests radical revision of species limits in the great speciator white‑eye genus Zosterops". Journal of Ornithology. 160: 1–16. doi:10.1007/s10336-018-1583-7.
  5. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2022). "Sylviid babblers, parrotbills, white-eyes". IOC World Bird List Version 12.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 14 October 2022.