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The Oriental white-eye (''Zosterops palpebrosus'') is a small passerine bird in the white-eye family. It is a resident breeder in open woodland in tropical Asia, east from the Indian subcontinent to Southeast Asia, extending to Indonesia and Malaysia. They forage in small groups, feeding on nectar and small insects. They are easily identified by the distinctive white eye-ring and overall yellowish upperparts. Several populations of this widespread species are named subspecies and some have distinctive variations in the extent and shades of yellows in their plumage. ==Description== This bird is small (about 8–9 cm long) with yellowish olive upper parts, a white eye ring, yellow throat and vent. The belly is whitish grey but may have yellow in some subspecies. The sexes look similar. The species is widespread and is part of a superspecies complex that includes ''Zosterops japonicus'', ''Zosterops meyeni'' and possibly others. The taxonomy of the group is still unclear with some island populations being distinctive while some subspecies are not well supported. The population from Flores, Indonesia for instance is found closer to the pale white-eye. The family itself is now questioned since they are nested along with the ''Stachyris'' babblers. About eleven subspecies are well recognised. These include the nominate form (type locality Bengal, India) which is found from Oman and Arabia, Afghanistan, northern India and extends into China and northern Myanmar. The population in the Western Ghats and hills of southern India is placed in ''nilgiriensis'' while ''salimalii'' of the Eastern Ghats hills (Shevaroy, Chitteri, Seshachalam, Nallamalai) is sometimes subsumed into the nominate race. The population of the plains of India, Laccadives and Sri Lanka are sometimes placed in ''egregius'' (= ''egregia'') but is restricted by other works to the population in Sri Lanka.〔 The populations in southern Myanmar, Thailand and Laos are placed in ''siamensis''. The Nicobar Islands form is ''nicobaricus'' and is sometimes also used for the population on the Andaman Islands which are however distinctive and a distinct unnamed population.〔 The populations from southern Thailand to western Cambodia are placed in ''williamsoni''. Other Southeast Asian island forms include ''auriventer'' (=''aureiventer''), ''buxtoni'', ''melanurus'' and ''unicus''. Race ''occidentis'' (now often subsumed into the nominate race) of the Western Himalayas has the upper side dark green and the flanks are tinged in brown. The form ''salimalii'' has a shorter bill and is brighter yellow-green above. Some authors consider the nominate race to be restricted to Sikkim, Bhutan, Assam and Yunnan and consider the peninsular race as ''occidentis'' (or ''amabilis'' if the form from Kathiawar described by Koelz is considered valid).〔 In Sri Lanka, race ''egregia'' is smaller and has a brighter back and throat than the endemic Sri Lanka white-eye, ''Zosterops ceylonensis'' found in the central hills. The English and scientific names refer to the conspicuous ring of white feathers round the eyes, ''zosterops'' being Greek for 'girdle-eye'. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Oriental white-eye」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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