Bonin White-eye Apalopteron familiare Scientific name definitions

12–14 cm; 15 g. Nominate race has yellow head with golden crown and distinctive triangular black eye patch which extends in thin line to well-defined black forehead; lores yellow, conspicuous white eyering interrupted by very thin black line at front and rear; upperparts olive-green with grey tinge, outer web of primaries tinged brownish, tail olive-brown; throat yellow, underparts pale yellow, greyish wash on flanks; iris brownish; bill and legs dark grey. Sexes alike. Juvenile is very like adult. Race <em>hahasima</em> very similar, but has yellowish-green tinge on upperparts , and larger bill and tarsus .

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Introduced (hahasima) on Chichi-jima, in C Ogasawara (Bonin) Is.

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SUBSPECIES

Apalopteron familiare familiare Scientific name definitions

Distribution

N Ogasawara (Bonin) Is (on Muko-jima). Probably extinct (1 Kawakami, K. and Higuchi, H. (2013). Estimation of the population size and viability of the Bonin White-eye Apalopteron familiare in the Bonin Islands, Japan. Orn. Science 12: 51–56. Close ).

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SUBSPECIES

Apalopteron familiare hahasima Scientific name definitions

Distribution

S Ogasawara (Bonin) Is (Haha-jima, Mukô-jima, Hira-shima, Ane-jima, Imôto-jima and Mei-jima).

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.

Found almost everywhere on Haha-jima, despite clearance of native forest: mountain and valley forest, low secondary forest, forest edge, bushes, plantations, gardens, near habitation, roadside brush and shrubs (especially Leucaena glauca), cultivated areas, pine (Pinus) woods, Pandanus on hillsides. Rare in dry low shrubs on windy peaks and ridges. Breeds in best patches of native forest (evergreen broadleaf forest dominated by Schima and Artisia, with well-developed but patchy undergrowth of bamboos, tall tree-ferns and tangled shrubs); secondary habitats used mainly for foraging outside breeding season.

Post-breeding dispersal throughout most of range, and in non-breeding season found almost everywhere on Haha-jima. Unconfirmed reports of birds moving from Haha-jima to other islands in the group in autumn and summer.

Mainly soft fruits, such as papaya (Carica), Acacia farnesiana, bananas (Musa), mulberry (Morus) and others, also flowers. Also insects, especially ants (Formicidae), but also caterpillars, beetles and their larvae (Coleoptera, including curculionids), crickets (Orthoptera), flies (Diptera), homopteran bugs, Neuroptera larvae; spiders (Araneae); small reptiles. In one study, c. 50% of diet was plant material, from at least 15 species. Forages singly, in pairs and in small parties of 5–6 individuals; searches among twigs and leaves as other white-eyes, on trunks in manner of nuthatches (Sitta) and woodpeckers (Picidae), and on the ground in manner of Erithacus robins. This diversity of feeding ecology may have developed in absence of other small passerines; adapted for both an arboreal and terrestrial foraging (has long tarsi and strong toes and claws), the latter particularly in non-breeding season.

Song  , rarely heard (given almost exclusively during 20–30 minutes before sunrise), rather complex and melodious, “chew-i, chit-chit-pee, chot-chot-pee, ch-ee” or “tu-ti-ti, ti-titu-tuoo”, usually 1·8–2·3 seconds, in quality not unlike that of a bunting (Emberiza) or Siberian Blue Robin (Larvivora cyane); also song flights from perch. Calls  include soft “pee-yu”, “weet” and “pit”, and explosive “tit-tit”; harsher “weet-weet” and “zhree-zhree” when mobbing.

Mar–Jun, mostly May, 1 record Feb, and young being fed by adults in Aug; sometimes double-brooded. Mating system little known, but year-long pair-bond suggested by observations of roosting birds in twos (probably pairs); apparently no territorial song, and may occur in small parties in breeding season. Both sexes participate in building nest, a crudely shaped deep cup, external diameter 98 × 103 mm and depth 72 mm, internal diameter 59 × 66 mm and depth 46 mm, outer layer of dead leaves, coarse grasses, pine needles and moss, some twigs, bark and plant down, inner wall mainly of long fibres, stems and rootlets, locally with goat wool and albatross (Diomedeidae) feathers, placed 1–12 m (mean 6 m) above ground in tree, in one study 70% placed in dominant Shima trees, but introduced trees also utilized. Clutch 1–4 eggs, usually 2, pale greenish-blue with brown spots mainly at large end, 19–20 × 15–16 mm; incubation of eggs and and feeding of chicks by both sexes, no information on duration of these periods.

Not globally threatened. Currently considered Near Threatened. It has been downlisted from Vulnerable following evidence that its population is larger than previously estimated and probably stable. Nominate race probably Extinct. Historically reported from three island groups in the archipelago. In 1930 nominate race already extinct on Nakôdo-jima, in N group (Mukojima chain) of Bonins, when also last specimens taken on Muko-jima; not found in 1941 on latter island. S race hahasima known to survive in total area of less than 100 km², distributed across five or fewer sites in S group (Hahajima chain), with main stronghold on Haha-jima (little over 20 km²), where population estimated at maximum of 3000–4000 individuals in 1969 and about same in 1974; 3·3–4·5 pairs/ha in 1995/96. Status in C group (Chichijima chain) unclear; there were rumours in 1987 of its continued existence or, more likely, of its reintroduction on Chichi-jima. Decline in numbers of this species the result of historical clearance of primary forest, and presently tourism and infrastructural development pose continued threats to remaining secondary forest. On smaller islands in particular, introduced cats and rats (Rattus) could also be a serious threat; in addition, Zosterops japonicus was introduced in c. 1900–1910, and the two species share habitat and diet, but a study in 1995–1997 revealed no negative ecological interaction between the two species. However, in 2013 the species's population was estimated at c. 15,600 mature individuals External link . This zosteropid has been protected as a National Endangered Species since 1993; Bonin Is, known also as the Ogasawara Is, are a National Wildlife Protection Area, established mainly for the conservation of the white-eye.