Mascarene spectacle bird
| Mascarene spectacle bird | ||||||||||||
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Mascarene Spectacled Bird (from Réunion) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Zosterops borbonicus | ||||||||||||
| ( Forster , 1781) |
The Mascarene White-eye ( Zosterops borbonicus ) is a bird art from the family of white-eyes . It occurs on Mauritius and Réunion .
Systematics
Originally, the races of Réunion and Mauritius were described as separate species Zosterops borbonica and Zosterops mauritianus . Today Zosterops borbonicus borbonicus (from Réunion) is regarded as a nominate form and Zosterops borbonicus mauritianus (from Mauritius) as a subspecies .
description
The nominate form of Réunion reaches a length of 10 centimeters. The top is gray-brown. The front and back of the head are gray. The upper tail covers are dirty white. The underside is dirty gray. The chin, middle of the abdomen, rump, under tail-coverts and under wing coverts are whitish. The flanks are rust-brown, the thighs are dark rust-brown. The bill and feet are almost black. The breed Z. b. mauritianus reaches a length of 9 centimeters. The underside of her is more dirty gray-white. The chin, throat and tail-coverts are more white than in Z. b. borbonicus . The flanks show a faint brownish wash. Both breeds feature a showy white ring around the auburn iris.
Habitat and way of life
Of the endemic bird species of the Mascarene Islands, the Mascarene Spectacled Bird has adapted best to the changes in the landscape caused by humans. He inhabits woodlands, forests and gardens. Its diet consists of insects, fruits and nectar. On Réunion it is a pollinator for orchid species such as Angraecum striatum and on Mauritius it is one of the main pollinators of the Trochetia flowers. When foraging for food, it moves in small groups of six to twenty individuals. His voice is very loud. The breeding season is in the southern summer. The clutch consists of two to four light blue eggs. The bowl-shaped nest is padded with plant material.
literature
- France Staub: Birds of the Mascarenes and Saint Brandon. LABAMA HOUSE, Port Louis Mauritius 1976.
- France Staub: Fauna of Mauritius and associated flora. Précigraph Limited, Port Louis Mauritius 1993.
- Otto Finsch : The animal kingdom. Delivery 15: Zosteropidae. Friedländer, Berlin 1901.
Web links
- Videos, photos and sound recordings about Zosterops borbonicus in the Internet Bird Collection
- Zosterops borbonicus in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2009. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed March 12, 2012th