The Seram white-eye (''Zosterops stalkeri'') is a small

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the white-eye family. It is an endemic resident breeder in open woodland in Seram,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. It was formerly considered conspecific with

black-fronted white-eye The black-fronted white-eye (''Zosterops chrysolaemus'') is a songbird species. It is closely related to the Old World babblers, and its family Zosteropidae might better be included in the Tiimalidae. The black-fronted white-eye was formerly con ...

, ''Zosterops minor'', but work by

Pamela C. Rasmussen Pamela Cecile Rasmussen (born October 16, 1959) is an American ornithologist and expert on Asian birds. She was formerly a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and is based at the Michigan State University. She ...

and her colleagues showed that it is a separate species. The same research also confirmed the specific status of the

Sangihe white-eye The Sangihe white-eye (''Zosterops nehrkorni'') is a species of bird in the white-eye family. It is Endemism, endemic to Sangir Island, Sangihe, Indonesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by ...

, ''Zosterops nehrkorni''. Compared to related taxa, the bill of Seram white-eye is paler, deeper, and broader at the base. Its eye-ring is narrow and broken at the front. The crown and sides of the head are black and the upperparts are dark bronze. The rump is a distinctive yellow-bronze. The sides of the breast and flanks are greyish-white, the undertail-coverts are orange-yellow, the thighs are whitish, and the uppertail is brownish-black. The sexes are similar, but immatures have the throat greener and more diffuse, with more black mixed into the chin feathers. Its song also differs from that of related species. Though mainly insectivorous, the Seram white-eye will also eat nectar and fruits of various kinds.

References

*P. C. RASMUSSEN, J. C. WARDILL, F. R. LAMBERT and J. RILEY. ''On the specific status of the Sangihe White-eye'' Zosterops nehrkorni'', and the taxonomy of the Black-crowned White-eye ''Z. atrifrons ''complex'': FORKTAIL 16 (2000): 69-80 {{Taxonbar, from=Q2225810 Seram white-eye Birds of Seram Endemic fauna of Seram Island Seram white-eye