Golden white-eye

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Golden white-eye
Small yellow bird with brownish wings and orange-pink bill and legs perching on a palm tree frond
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Zosteropidae
Genus: Cleptornis
Oustalet, 1889
Species:
C. marchei
Binomial name
Cleptornis marchei
Synonyms

Ptilotis marchei

The golden white-eye (Cleptornis marchei) is a species of

sympatric (shares its range) and competes with the related bridled white-eye. The golden white-eye has golden plumage and a pale eye-ring. It feeds on insects, fruit, and nectar and forages in pairs or small family groups. The bird is monogamous and lays two eggs in a small cup nest
.

Fossil evidence shows the golden white-eye once also occurred on

Endangered. It is threatened by the invasive brown tree snake, which has become established on nearby Guam, and this predator is expected to cause a rapid decline in the population if it reaches Saipan. Efforts are under way to control the snakes and breed the white-eye in zoos
.

Taxonomy

The species was once called the golden honeyeater as it was considered to be a

Harold Douglas Pratt, Jr., to suggest in 1987 that it was related to the white-eyes.[5]

Subsequent studies have supported the idea that this species was a white-eye.

Rukia, or the monotypic Bonin white-eye (Apalopteron), another species once placed with the honeyeaters and subsequently moved to the white-eyes.[2] The golden white-eye has a long 10th primary feather (one of the flight feathers), unlike other white-eyes where that primary is reduced or absent, which has led to the alternative suggestion that it is basal (an early offshoot) among the white-eyes.[6]

Its generic name, Cleptornis, is derived from the Ancient Greek kleptes, a robber or thief, and ornis, a bird. This is not a reference to any aspect of the golden white-eye's behaviour, but to the old French name of the Mariana Islands, les Îles des Voleurs, or Robbers' Islands.[7] The specific epithet marchei refers to the French explorer and writer Antoine-Alfred Marche, who procured the original specimens.[8]

Distribution and habitat

Aguijan in the Northern Mariana Islands
.

The golden white-eye is

Aguijan. Within its range, it occupies a variety of habitats, both natural and man-made. It is common in native forests, particularly limestone forests, but also occurs in open shrubland and suburban areas. On Saipan, the only habitats it is absent from are the marshes around Lake Susupe and grassy savannas.[2]

Description

The golden white-eye differs from the other white-eyes in having large eyes and an outermost

primary wing feather that is not reduced (as it is in the other species). It is a large white-eye, 14 cm (5.5 in) long and weighing around 20 g (0.7 oz). The species has bright, unmistakable plumage, with: an orange-yellow head coupled with a pale eye-ring; a yellow-green back, wings, and tail; and golden orange undersides. The bill and legs are also orange. The plumage of both sexes is similar; the males can be told from the females only when examined in the hand, since the males have longer wings than the females. The juveniles have similar plumage, though duller than the adults', with brownish patches on the face and neck and brown-yellow streaks on the breast. Juveniles also have dusky bills and dull legs.[2]

The golden white-eye makes a variety of calls. The song is a long raspy warble, rendered as "séé mé-can you séé mé-I can séé yóú-can you séé mé". The species also makes rasping shorter calls and whistles when in flocks and in flight. Chicks give plaintive whistles when begging for food from adults.[2]

Behaviour

Like other white-eyes, the golden white-eye is

rufous fantail seeks out the golden white-eye, foraging behind it to snatch insects flushed by the latter species. The golden white-eye is socially dominant over the bridled white-eyes and rufous fantails, but it is subordinate to the Micronesian myzomela and is chased by that species. It is also occasionally chased by the fantails if it approaches their nests too closely.[10]

Diet and feeding

Small yellow bird clings to the side of a bunch of green bananas in a tree
A golden white-eye feeding on bananas

The golden white-eye is a generalist, feeding on fruit, berries, and

typhoons, which can dramatically alter the structure of the forest.[12]

Breeding

Breeding occurs throughout the year on Saipan, where the species' nesting behaviour has been studied.[13] The peak breeding period seems to be from March to July.[4] The species is monogamous. The nests are simple undecorated cups of casuarina needles, grasses, and vines. These are placed around 2.9 m (between 1.5 and 6.5 m) off the ground in a variety of trees including Casuarina, Guamia, Cynometra, Leucaena, and Citrus.[13] The nests are predated by other bird species, specifically Micronesian starlings and collared kingfishers,[14] as well as the introduced green tree skink.[4]

The typical

faecal sacs to keep the nest clean. The diet of the chicks is almost exclusively composed of insects and caterpillars. Chicks fledge around 10–14 days after hatching.[13] After fledging they may remain with their parents in small groups for some time.[9]

Threats and conservation

Yellow bird with brown tint on wings and metal ring faces left
Captive breeding is being attempted in some zoos to safeguard the future of this species.

The range of the golden white-eye has contracted considerably since the arrival of humans in the Mariana Islands. Fossil bones of this species have been found on the nearby islands of Tinian and Rota, and it may once have occurred on Guam and other islands in the Marianas.[15]

At present the golden white-eye is very common, and in fact a 1996 study found that their densities on Saipan were among the highest recorded for any bird, up to 2,095 birds/km² (8.47 per acre).[10] It was believed that Saipan cannot sustain a larger population of this white-eye than it already does.[16] A 2009 study, which incorporated results from a 2007 survey, found that the species had declined between 1982 and 2007, in common with two other species on Saipan, the rufous fantail and the nightingale reed warbler. All three species are insectivorous and were theorised to have declined due to habitat loss. Nevertheless, the species remained relatively abundant, and the current world population is estimated at around 71,997 birds.[17]

The species is nonetheless evaluated as

translocated from Saipan to the island of Sarigan, a predator-free island reserve, in 2011 in the hope of establishing a breeding population.[1]

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22714282A172914303.en
    . Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-84-96553-45-3
    .
  3. ^ (in French) Oustalet, E. (1889). Note sur la faune ornithologique des Res Mariannes. Le Naturaliste 3(64): 260.
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-0955260759
    .
  5. ISBN 0-691-08402-5
    .
  6. ^
    JSTOR 4089717
    . Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  7. ISBN 0-19-854634-3
    .
  8. ^ Baker, Rollin H. (1951). "The avifauna of Micronesia, its origin, evolution and distribution". University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History. 3 (1): 303. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
  9. ^ a b c d Craig, Robert (1990). "Foraging behavior and microhabitat use of two species of white-eyes (Zosteropidae) on Saipan, Micronesia" (PDF). Auk. 107 (3): 500–505. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
  10. ^ a b Craig, Robert (1996). "Seasonal population surveys and natural history of a Micronesian bird community" (PDF). Wilson Bulletin. 108 (2): 246–267.
  11. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2008.06.014
    .
  12. ^
    doi:10.1676/0043-5643(2001)113[0317:MPASPI]2.0.CO;2
    .
  13. ^ a b c d Stinson, Colleen; Derek Stinson (1994). "Nest sites, clutch size and incubation behavior in the Golden White-Eye" (PDF). Journal of Field Ornithology. 65 (1): 65–69. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
  14. ^ Sachtleben, Thalia (2005). Predation and nest success of forest birds in native and nonnative habitat on Saipan, Mariana Islands (PDF) (MSc thesis). Colorado State University. pp. 1–95. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-07-22.
  15. ISBN 978-0-226-77142-7
    .
  16. ISBN 978-0-9552607-3-5
    .
  17. doi:10.1017/S0959270909008417
    .
  18. JSTOR 1938471
    .
  19. ^ Craig, Robert (1998). "Conservation of endangered white-eyes (Zosteropidae) in the tropical Pacific". 22nd International Ornithological Conference (PDF). Putnam, CT, and Durban, South Africa: Bird Conservation Research, Inc. pp. 1–8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
  20. ^ Bonner, Jeffrey (2008). "Reptilian invasion: Saving Pacific island birds from snakes". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Archived from the original on 17 September 2008. Retrieved 14 November 2008.
  21. ^ BirdLife International (2008). "BirdLife Species Factsheet: Golden White-eye". Retrieved 15 January 2009.
  22. ^ Zombeck, Debbie (Winter 2011). "A Feather in Our Cap" (PDF). Alive: Magazine of the North Carolina Zoological Society. 63: 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2012-11-25.

External links

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