Black-fronted White-eye Zosterops minor Scientific name definitions

The Black-fronted White-eye is a common, small passerine found across mainland New Guinea and some offshore islands. It currently includes six subspecies, which can be divided into the Black-fronted group (including subspecies chrysolaemus, gregarius, delicatulus and pallidogularis) and the Green-fronted group (including the nominate subspecies (minor) and rothschildi). Some authors in the past have considered these groups to be different species. All of them have green upperparts, a yellow throat and chest, and white or grayish underparts, but as the group names suggest, the nominate subspecies and Zosterops minor rothschildi have no black on their forehead, and only a vestigial white eye-ring. These subspecies have also been considered conspecific with Black-crowned White-eye (Zosterops atrifrons) at some point, and they have all been commonly referred to as the "Zosterops atrifrons group," a group in which the delimitation of species is clearly a "difficult task," in the words of Ernst Mayr.