Ashy-bellied White-eye Zosterops citrinella Scientific name definitions

10–11 cm. Nominate race has forehead and supraloral region distinctly yellow, blackish loral line extending under white eyering, eyering of average width and broken at front by blackish spot of loral line; crown and upperparts pale olive-yellow, slightly more yellow on rump; flight-feathers and tail feathers blackish-brown with broad greenish margins; chin, throat, upper breast and undertail-coverts pale yellow, rest of underparts pale greyish, darkest on flanks, almost pure satin-white towards centre of belly, sometimes a mesial yellow longitudinal streak; iris pale brown or dark sandy brown; bill blackish-grey; legs dark blue-grey. Sexes alike. Immature is paler than adult.

Has sometimes been treated as conspecific with Z. flavus, Z. chloris and Z. luteus, and sometimes with Z. palpebrosus. Birds of this species recorded on Lembata (EC Lesser Sundas) of uncertain racial identity, provisionally included in harterti; those from Lucipara Is (in Banda Sea) provisionally included in albiventris. Subspecies unicus has often been included with an expanded Z. palpebrosus (1 Dickinson, E. C., and L. Christidis, Editors (2014). The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Fourth Edition. Volume 2: Passerines. Aves Press, Eastbourne, UK. Close , 2 del Hoyo, J., and N. J. Collar (2016). HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ), but has more recently been included with present species (3 Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood (2019). The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, USA. Close ). Proposed race intercalatus (Sumba) merged with nominate; griseiventris (Tanimbar Is), bassetti (Damar I) and lettiensis (Leti I) subsumed into albiventris. Species name sometimes emended to citrinellus but this is unjustifed, as citrinella is a noun (and therefore invariable) both by usage and by default (4 David, N., and M. Gosselin (2002). The grammatical gender of avian genera. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 122(4):257–282. Close , 5 LeCroy, M. (2011). Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Part 9. Passeriformes: Zosteropidae and Meliphagidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 348:1–193. Close , 6 Schodde, R. and Bock, W.J. (2016). Conflict resolution of grammar and gender for avian species-group names under Article 31.2.2 of the ICZN Code: is gender agreement worth it? Zootaxa 4127(1): 161–170. Close ). Three subspecies currently recognized.

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Scrub, forest edge, secondary growth, primary and secondary forest, heavily degraded forest, open woodland, monsoon thickets, lightly wooded cultivation, scrubby farmland, mangroves, coastal casuarinas (Casuarina); often on small islands. Sea-level to 1000 m on Alor, to 1200 m on Timor; from 850 to 1730 m on Sumbawa and above 500 m on Flores; nominate race reported as reaching to 2000 m in Lesser Sundas.

Resident; record from Booby I (in Torres Strait), lacking suitable habitat, suggests some local movement. Reported sightings on Australian mainland (at Byfield and Yeppon) never confirmed.

Insects, berries. Gregarious, forms roaming flocks of 3–10 individuals, sometimes up to 20; also singly and in pairs. Also in mixed-species flocks. Forages actively in outer foliage of canopy; also in lower canopy, middle storey and low scrub.

Song on Timor a series of rather weak, sweet, moderately high-pitched twittering notes, 0·8–1·2 seconds in duration, interspersed with rapidly repeated warbles, trills and slurs; on Sumba similar to that of Heleia wallacei, but shorter and at constant pitch; in Tanimbar Is a moderately rapid rising and falling series of 10–16 relatively loud, clear notes with fairly sweet warbling quality, 2 seconds long, repeated at intervals of 2–3 seconds; on the smaller islands song heard in large choruses. Contact calls similar to those of Z. lateralis but louder and less plaintive.

Probably Dec–Jun on Timor and islets off NE Australia; Jan in Tanimbar Is and Apr on Roti; laying female in May on Sumba; May-Oct (peak Apr/May-Jun) on Flores. Nest a small neat cup of fine grass or long threads from Palmyra leaves and fine stalks, bound with spider web and cocoons, lined with fine grass, suspended by rim 1·5 m above ground in slender fork of shrub or foliage of tree. Clutch 2–4 eggs, pale bluish-green/-grey or white, in Lesser Sundas (unicus) very pale blue to white, recorded measurements 16·5 - 13 mm, 18·1 - 12·5 mm (albiventris), 15·5 × 11·5 mm (unicus), 15·2–18·5 - 11·1–12·5 mm. No other information.

Not globally theatened. Generally common. Common and widespread on Roti I; common in Tanimbar Is; status on Alor not known.