Japanese White-eye

Taxobox
name = Japanese White-eye
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1

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image_width = 200px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Passeriformes
familia = Zosteropidae
genus = "Zosterops"
species = "Z. japonicus"
binomial = "Zosterops japonicus"
binomial_authority = (Temminck and Schlegel, 1847)

The Japanese White-eye ("Zosterops japonicus"), also known as the mejiro (メジロ, 目白), is a small passerine bird in the white-eye family. The specific epithet is occasionally written "japonica", but this is incorrect due to the gender of the genus. Its native range includes much of east Asia, including Japan, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines. It has been intentionally introduced to other parts of the world as a pet and as pest control, with mixed results. As one of the native species of the Japanese islands, it has been depicted in Japanese art on numerous occasions, and historically was kept as a cage bird.

The Japanese White-eye is about 4 to 4.5 inches in size, with a yellow forehead, a greenish back, and dark brown wings and tail outlined in green. Like other white-eyes, this species exhibits the distinctive white eyering that gives it its name ("mejiro" also meaning "white eye" in Japanese). It is omnivorous, feeding primarily on insects and nectar.

Introduced to Hawaii in 1929 as a means of insect control, it has since become a common bird on the Hawaiian Islands, and has become a vector for avian parasites that are now known to adversely affect populations of native birds such as Hawaiian honeycreepers, as well as spreading invasive plant species through discarded seeds [http://www.earlham.edu/~biol/hawaii/birds.htm] .

Gallery

References

* Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

External links

* [http://www.honoluluzoo.org/japanese_white-eye.htm Japanese White-eye (Honolulu Zoo)]