The white-eyes and yuhinas are family of generalist, warbler-like birds confined to the Old World. Almost 150 species are recognised in 12 to 14 genera, with more than 100 species of white-eyes in the genus Zosterops, which is by far the largest bird genus. The enormous diversity of white-eyes results in large part from their powers of dispersal, which has seen them colonise many of the islands in the Western Pacific and Indian oceans.
This exploration is ongoing. The Silvereye Z. lateralis arrived in New Zealand from Australia in the 1850s and since then has gone on to colonise all the sub-Antarctic islands south of New Zealand. Yet once they reach farflung islands, not all white-eyes are good dispersers. In the Solomon Islands, some quite distinct species have evolved on islands only a few kilometres apart. As a result, many white-eyes are single-island endemics.
This story is from the March 2023 edition of African Birdlife.
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This story is from the March 2023 edition of African Birdlife.
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